Spirit of Insanity
by Imadork121
Summary: When Sheldon won Proffesor Rothman's office, he had no idea the office has been occupied since Rothman's tragic mental decline. What made Rothman go insane anyway? And will the same thing happen to Sheldon, or will he give in to Her will? Will She tear our favorite characters apart? Shamy and Lenny because I feel like it, Sheldon/OC.
1. It All Started with Cracked Gold

Chapter 1

"You can't do this!" Sheldon cried.

"Oh yes I can." Her eyes blazed a bright white. Once a beautiful hazel, now her eyes seemed so lifeless.

So dead.

"Sheldon run!" Leonard screamed. He, Penny, Howard, Raj, Amy and Bernadette faught against the nooses that were slowly pulling their bodies upward.

"Get out while you still have time!" Penny shrilly agreed.

"No one will escape! Not even Sheldon!"

"Please!" Sheldon begged.

"It's too late for them Sheldon." She said, white eyes blazing. "Unless you choose. Choose now!"

"Sheldon!" Penny's words were caught off by the rope tightening around her neck.

Sheldon stared at the screaming forms of his friends as he tried to decide what to do.

**3 weeks prior-**

Dr. Rothman's office left a lot to be desired, thought Sheldon grumpily.

And yet, the eccentric genius refused to hand it over to Barry Kripke. Sheldon had been in his new office for a week and with every day he hated it.

For Sheldon, it was impossible to ignore the gaping hole in the wall, the noisy geology department right above his head, and the annoying wind chimes and mockingbirds. As soon as Kripke had seen the picture of Sheldon's head stuck in the wall (which Leonard had posted on Facebook) he had laughed and begged Sheldon for the office back, thinking that Sheldon wouldn't want the office due to that incident. He didn't, but that was beside the point.

Sheldon sat at his new desk. On the bright side, the naked presence of Dr. Rothman no longer posed any inconvienience, as he was taken to a mental hospital just the day before. It was a relief to the physics department in general.

Out of nowhere, Sheldon suddenly realized that the location of his desk was not perfectly aligned with the window behind him. He didn't know where that idea came from. But this was Sheldon, and Sheldon like everything perfect. After examining the desk's position, he concluded that it was four inches past alignment. So he got up, and attempted to scoot the desk over a little bit.

The lanky physicist sighed in exaustion after moving it only a few centimeters. Proffesor Rothman's desk was quite heavy.

"All right then, heave ho, and the lumberjacks say." Sheldon grumbled under his breath, and with a grunt, managed to move the desk an inch, before there was a grating sound of metal on metal, and a crack.

Surprised, Sheldon stopped pushing, got on his knees and looked under the desk.

A golden chain was wrapped around one of the desk chair's legs. Curiousity getting the better of him, Sheldon reached over and began to tug on it. After a few tugs, the chain was untangled and the deskleg was free.

Putting it under the light so he could see it better, Sheldon examined the necklace. It turned out to be a golden locket. The locket part had cracked, and the inside of it was visible through the split gold. Sheldon, with a slight shock, recognized a black and white phote of a much younger Proffesor Rothman holding a baby wrapped in a blanket.

"Curious." Sheldon muttered.

He didn't hear the voice that was silently cursing. He didn't hear the voice that said-

_"That's my necklace."_

A/N-This is totally AU, if you hadn't guessed already. After I saw the episode where Sheldon and Kripke fight for Rothman's office, I immediately thought 'what made Rothman go insane?' Don't ask me why, my mind's weird that way. Review if you like it, don't be mean if you don't, and I'll try to post the next chapter soon.


	2. First Fright

Chapter 2

It was Halo night.

And as usual, Penny was dominating.

"Haha! You lose again Moonpie!" She crowed, doing a little victory jig in her seat.

"Don't call me Moonpie." Sheldon pouted. "Only my Meemaw calls me Moonpie."

"Uh-huh." Penny high-fived Leonard.

Sheldon's phone buzzed. He picked it up, and with a quick glance, sighed and turned it off.

"Who's that?" Howard asked as he set up a new game with Raj.

"Kripke." Sheldon glared at Leonard. "Thanks to that picture you posted online, he's been pestering me to give up my office."

Leonard shrugged sheepishly. "But you already hate it, right?"

"That's hardly the point! I am not going to just 'give it up.' Especially not to Kripke." Sheldon snapped. After a brief silence, broken only by the sounds of Halo, Sheldon broke it further, saying "Speaking of my new office, I found something today that rather puzzles me."

"Did you find it in the hole in the wall?" Howard asked sarcatically.

"No." Sheldon replied, not catching the sarcasm. "Look." He pulled the locket out of his pocket and dangled it in front of Leonard's face, swinging it back and forth, back and forth...

Annoyed, Leonard snatched it from Sheldon's hand. Pushing his glasses up on his nose, he examined the chain, working his gaze down to the locket. When he opened it, he looked mildly surprised.

"Is that Rothman?" Leonard asked.

"Lemme see." Howard paused the Halo and took the necklace from Leonard. Penny and Raj moved in closer for a better look.

"Holy crap, that is Rothman." Howard said in disbelief.

"Who's that baby?" Penny asked.

"Perhaps the said baby is Proffesor Rothman's daughter." Sheldon interjected casually.

Raj whispered something into Howard's ear.

"I didn't know he had a daughter either." Howard muttered.

"How do you know Rothman even had a daughter?" Leonard asked Sheldon.

"I overheard President Seibert discussing it." Sheldon replied.

"What happened to her?" Penny asked.

"She died." Sheldon said dissmissively.

"What?!"

"And you just found this in Rothman's office?" Leonard asked in a way that said 'seriously?'

"Yes."

"Well that explains a lot." Howard muttered.

"Should we give it back to him?" Penny asked worriedly.

"I don't think he needs to remember his daughter dying. He's enough of a nutcase as it is." Howard snorted. "Besides, this thing looks pretty valuble. We could sell it or something."

"You want to sell a dead girl's locket?" Penny looked incredulous.

"Well, she's not gonna be using it anymore." Howard replied. Raj smirked, and again whispered something into Howard's ear. "No, I'm not worried I'll be reborn into a banana slug, so shut up about it!"

Leonard stood up. "I think we should at least see if there's any other family members of Rothman's. They might want it."

"Hey! I found it! Shouldn't I get to decide?" Sheldon asked grumpily.

Penny rolled her eyes. "Fine, Sheldon, what do you want to do?"

Sheldon thought for a moment. "Never mind." He muttered.

_She could sense it the moment he picked up her locket. Apparantly, this Sheldon person thought her father's office was now his own. She didn't care of course, but when he discovered her locket, she knew she had to track him down and get it back. It was her only link to her previous form, for her to become solid again. All sheers had something like that, but very few chose to use them._

_ That's what made her special. Unlike the other moaning, lifeless, lost little ghosts, she still had a desire to live. Her death was a mistake, and it had eventually driven her father to madness. She wanted to find a way to come back to life, even though she knew it was strictly impossible._

_ She wouldn't visit her father though, once she came back to life. She liked him where he was, locked up in an asylum. She and her father had never gotten along, and she didn't care if he was now senile. He could rot in a padded room for all she cared._

'You'll never be like your sister.'

_Ha._

_ He should see her now._

_ But first, she had to deal with a certain Sheldon Cooper. She had to admit, his intelligence impressed her, though he was far too narcisstic for his own good. But part of her admired his pride, his confidence, his way of speaking his mind. Sheldon Cooper was not a genuinely bad person. He knew he was a genius, and he wasn't afraid to show it, but she believed it was more of a honesty issue then a vanity. Though vanity was a big trait of his, that she would not deny._

_ He had actually managed to make friends. That surprised her greatly._

_ And they planned to give the locket directly to her family. Well wasn't that nice._

_ She didn't want her locket to go to her 'too good for anything sister' or her pushover mother, or one of her annoying cousins. She had hoped she wouldn't have to directly intervene, but the way things were playing out, she might have to._

_ Perhaps it was best to play the one who had found her locket in the first place._

_ Sheldon Cooper._

_ Oh, she would have fun with this._

_ Hopefully, she wouldn't have to damage him too much. It would be a shame to do that to a brilliant mind._

Sheldon was lying in bed later that night, in his classic 'Dracula pose,' when he heard a voice whisper in the back of his mind:

"_Sheldon."_

Odd, Sheldon thought, I seem to be hearing things. Have I gone through all the REM cycles already?

_"Get out of bed Sheldon."_

I must be dreaming, Sheldon decided.

_"Now Sheldon."_

Fine. Sheldon got out of bed.

_"Go to where you put the locket Sheldon."_

Sheldon obeyed. He walked out of his room and to his desk in the living room.

"_Now give it to me."_

"Who is 'me'?" Sheldon asked.

_"Me."_ A gust of wind slapped the back of his neck. Sheldon jumped, and whirled around. There was no one there.

"Leonard? Is this a joke?" Sheldon called.

_"He can't hear you."_ There was a girlish giggle, and the hairs on the back of Sheldon's neck stood up.

"What's going on?" Sheldon asked nervously.

_"I want my locket Sheldon."_ It sounded like a teenage girl's voice. "And what I want, I get. So give it to me."

"How can it be 'your' locket?" Sheldon replied, edging away from his desk.

There was a silence, before she replied. _"Don't question me Moonpie."_

Sheldon swallowed, and turned back to his desk. When he did, he tried to scream, but the scream got caught in his throat, leaving his mouth wide open.

What he saw could have been described as a shred of mist, except this mist was in a vague shape of a woman, and the said woman looked very angry. And very, very, terrifying.

One word screamed through Sheldon's mind: GHOST!

This had to be a dream. Ghosts weren't real. They weren't. They went against the laws of physics, and his own mother's Christian philosophy. The philosophy that people either went to heaven or hell, and that was it.

Ghosts weren't real.

_"Give me my locket Sheldon."_ She whispered, and reached a see-through hand out towards him.

Sheldon didn't give her the locket.

Instead, he fainted.


	3. Appearing Again

Chapter 3

"What the hell?"

That was the first thing Sheldon heard when he came to his senses. He opened his eyes, and saw Leonard standing over him looking worried.

"Are you okay?" Leonard asked.

_ I just saw a ghost!_ Sheldon wanted to scream it, but he wondered suddenly if it had all been a dream. He himself didn't believe in the paranormal, and neither did Leonard. If Sheldon told him he had seen a ghost, he would probably take Sheldon to a 'special place' for 'special people.' Sheldon's mother had did that to him once when he told her that he had cloned a field mouse. The 'special place' was not only humiliating, it was terribly filthy, at least in Sheldon's eyes.

Sheldon's mind was fast, and those thoughts occured in a matter of milliseconds. In the end, he decided to play dumb.

"I believe so." Sheldon rubbed his forehead. A headache was coming on. "I had..." _A premonition_... "...A bad dream."

Leonard relaxed. "Were you sleepwalking?"

Sheldon shrugged.

"God, Sheldon, you almost gave me a heart attack. What did you dream about?"

"What time is it, we should probably get to work!" Sheldon said loudly. He struggled to his feet, and quickly made his way to his room.

He found his favorite Flash t-shirt, and he put it on over a thermal long sleeve. As Sheldon dressed, he did his best to put the image of the ghost, no, dream, out of his head. It was just a dream, it was just a dream, Sheldon repeated over and over again.

_"I'm not a dream Sheldon. I still want my locket."_

Sheldon almost peed himself, but that would be horribly un-genious like. He looked around his room wildly. Nothing was there.

It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream...

_"Give me my locket."_

Sheldon tripped over his comic book collection to get out of his room. Leonard was in the kitchen, eating cereal.

"Yoo okhay?" Leonard said through a mouthful of cereal.

"Let's go! Now!" Sheldon yelped, and grabbed Leonard's arm. He knocked over Leonard's cereal and dragged Leonard out the door.

"Sheldoon! Wat te hell?" Leonard snapped, mouth still full of cereal.

"We're going to work! Come on!" Sheldon replied, yanking the door open and running into Penny.

"Hi guys-" The blonde said, then stopped when she saw them. Sheldon's hair was disheveled, and Leonard was in milk-soaked PJ's.

"We're going to work Penny!" Sheldon yelled, and he dragged Leonard down the stairs.

"Bye Penny!" Leonard called as he dissapeared.

Penny shook her head. "I don't even wanna know." She muttered.

Sheldon made Leonard drive all the way to work even though both of them looked like they had just got out of bed. Leonard had finally swallowed his cereal, but he was pissed off nontheless.

"What the hell was that all about?" Leonard snapped.

"We were late to work." Sheldon replied.

"No we're not! We have an entire hour before we have to be there!" Leonard shouted angrily.

"Oh really? My mistake. Oh well, we might as well go there anyway." Sheldon said nonchalantly.

"Sheldon-" Leonard took a deep breath. "Fine. Just fine. But if you do this again, I'll kill you. Got it?"

Sheldon nodded. Leonard sighed, and slowly put his foot down on the brake pedal. The car stopped in front of a red light.

Leaning back in his seat, Sheldon let out a sigh in relief. Leonard took it as a sigh of weariness, but in reality, Sheldon was relieved that that ghost was out of his head.

_Maybe I'm imaging things._ Sheldon thought. _I must be. Ghosts aren't real. As mother said, it's either heaven or hell for the dead. Heaven or hell Shelly. The dead can't stay on earth. The Lord says so, Shelly. You're imagining things, Shelly._

"_You know, heaven is a nice place, but to be honest, I like it here better."_

Sheldon froze.

_ You're just imagining things, Shelly. Don't dwell on it._

_ "That's where you're wrong, Dr. Cooper. I'm very real."_

There's no such thing as ghosts, there's no such thing as ghosts...

Next to him, Leonard swore under his breath. They were stuck in traffic. There had been an accident.

_ So you're real?_ Sheldon immediately scolded himself. Of course she wasn't real...

_"Yep. I'm real."_

Holy crap. She was real.

Either that, or he was going crazy.

_Are you a ghost?_ He asked.

_"I'm dead. If that's what you're asking. Look forward._

Sheldon slowly turned his head forward, and stifled a yelp.

"Are you okay?" Leonard looked at him.

"Fine." Sheldon squeaked. The ghost was standing in front of the car in front of them, mist and all. It was definately a woman, but Sheldon couldn't see her features in the mist. She lifted what he supposed was her hand and waved at him.

"Sheldon, you don't look so good. You look like you're seeing a ghost."

"I am!" Sheldon shreiked.

"What?" Leonard stared at him.

"Right there! Right in front of the car! Right there!" Sheldon pointed and gestured wildly.

_ "He can't see me. No one but you can see me."_

"Sheldon, there's no one there." Leonard said cautiously.

"I swear..." Sheldon was interrupted by the ghost flying off the car in front of them and onto their own. He let out a squeak, and shrunk back into his seat.

_ "Now...give me my locket."_

"Why do you want it?" Sheldon yelled at her.

"Okay, Sheldon, the traffic's clearing up, I'm getting you home." Leonard said loudly.

"No!" Sheldon turned back to him wildly. "Don't you see her? She's right there!"

_ "Give it to me!"_ The ghost shreiked.

"Fine!" Sheldon dug into his pocket and flung the locket out of the roof window. It landed on the hood of the car. "Just leave me alone!" Sheldon yelled.

"Sheldon..." Leonard said warningly.

_"Thank you very much."_ The ghost said almost sarcastically. Mist enveloped the locket, and it dissapeared, along with the ghost.

Sheldon slunk back into his seat, panting. Leonards stared at him worriedly.

Cars behind them honked angrily. Leonard pressed his foot on the gas pedal, and the car moved forwards.

"Sheldon, get out my cell phone." Leonard commanded.

Sheldon obeyed. Leonard punched the screen a few time, held it between his shoulder and his ear.

"Hi Penny, it's me, are you on your shift?" Pause. "You are? Well when you're done, can you come pick up Sheldon at Caltech?" Another pause. "He's been hallucinating, and I'm worried he's coming down with something. You can? Thanks. Love you." Leonard hung up.

Sheldon wanted to protest, but something held him back. At least Leonard didn't think he was insane.

************************************************** ************************************************** ************************************************** *********************************

The thermometer beeped. Penny took it out of his mouth and frowned.

"Ninety-nine. Oh well, I guess it could be worse. Do you need anything?"

Sheldon shook his head, but then an idea occured to him. "Can you go to my room and bring me some of my books?"

"Sure sweetie. Which ones?"

"All of them."

"What?"

"Please?"

Penny sighed and almost rolled her eyes before noticing that Sheldon had actually asked her politely. Maybe he was sick. Penny bit her lip, and headed off to his room.

Sheldon leaned back against the pillows and closed his eyes. He was exhausted from the previous night's events. He still wasn't entirely sure if he had actually seen a ghost. Part of him wondered if it was actually just a cruel joke on his enemies' parts. He doubted it, but after he had seen that ghost, he was becoming more and more skeptical. Anything could be possible once you started seeing ghosts.

But what Sheldon really wanted was answers. If it really was a ghost, Sheldon wanted to know. He wanted to know her story.

_"If you want to know, you could just ask me."_

Sheldon jumped. He knew that voice anywhere. Nevertheless, he didn't recognize her.

He had mistaken her to be a woman, but she really looked about eighteen. She had auburn hair kept in a braid down her back, and was wearing a black leather jacket, jeans, and beaten-up red converse. Her hazel eyes were surprisingly fierce and intelligent, and Sheldon knew immediately that she was not the type of girl you wanted to go up against. That didn't help him feel better.

"Is that..." Sheldon hesitated.

"Yep." The girl pulled something up off her neck and Sheldon saw the glint of a gold locket.

"You-" He managed. "You're a ghost."

She made a face. "Well yes, but I prefer to ignore the fact that I'm dead."

"Why are you here? I already gave you the locket." Sheldon said nervously.

Her face softened. "I tried to stay away, but I couldn't."

"That doesn't answer my question."

Before she could respond, Penny came back carrying a stack of books.

"All right, there's still a few back in your room, but I got most of them." Penny placed the massive pile of books on the coffee table and noticed the girl standing next to Sheldon. "Oh! Who's this?"

The girl smiled. "I'm Lacey. I'm a friend of Sheldon's."

Penny frowned. "Sheldon's never mentioned you."

"Oh, I believe he has. You just didn't listen. Aren't you late for work?" The girl said innocently.

Penny looked at the clock, and her eyes widened. "Shit, how did that happen?"

"Time flies, I suppose. Now, off you go."

Penny's eyes narrowed. She glanced back to Sheldon, and back to the girl in front of her. "Look, I have no idea who you are, but I'm not just going to leave my friend-"

"Don't worry, I'll take care of him." The girl sat next to Sheldon. "You should get going. Don't wanna be late for work now, or you'll get fired."

"How did you know what time my shifts are?" Penny growled.

"I'm observant."

The two females stared eachother down, and Sheldon decided to intervene before things got ugly.

"Penny, I would actually like to talk to 'Lacey' for a moment. You can go to your shift. I will be fine."

Penny bit her lip. "But-"

"You heard Moonpie. We need to talk." The girl put an arm around Sheldon's neck. He winced. He did not want to be left alone with her, but he had questions, and if he asked them in front of Penny, he'd be sent to an asylum for sure. Or the ghost would hurt him. Or she would hurt Penny. There were so many bad possibilites, and Sheldon wanted to limit those possibilities.

"Penny, it is absolutely fine." Sheldon reassured her.

"Fine." Penny glared at the girl sitting next to him. "But if she gets out of line, call me, and I'll get here faster then you can blink." With that Penny left, and the ghost girl smirked.

"So." She turned her body slighly so that she was facing Sheldon. "Any questions?"


	4. Ghost Girl

Chapter 4

_The last time Sheldon saw his grandfather was two days after he was five. His father had been in an alcohol-induced fit of rage, and Mary Cooper desperately wanted to get her children away from him. She sent Missy to a Girl Scout meeting, Georgie to a friend's house, and Sheldon to his grandparents' house. Sheldon was the favorite grandchild, there was no doubt about that._

_ "Be good Shelley." Mary kissed Sheldon on the cheek, making the five-year-old boy feel a bit annoyed._

_ "I will Mother." Sheldon mumbled._

_ Mary walked back to her car, and Sheldon looked expectantly up to his grandmother._

_ "Well Moonpie, I have a batch of cookies in the oven, and Pop-Pop has a new textbook for you." She said cheerfully. "How does that sound?"_

_ "That sounds splendid, Meemaw." Sheldon smiled, and trotted after her._

_ As soon as Sheldon went into his grandparents' house he knew something was wrong. The house was normally tidy, with the smell of hot cocoa and cookies. Sheldon's grandfather would almost always be at his desk, working on whatever it was he worked on all day. Whenever Sheldon came over, his Pop-Pop would turn around, smile, and give him a brand-new college textbook._

_ Now the house was messy, books scattered everywhere, dust coating every little surface, and papers scattered in random places-on top of bookshelves, under the kitchen table, even spilling out of the silverware drawer. The smells were as they should be, but Pop-Pop's desk was empty. Everything else was a bit odd, but the vacant desk was simply unnerving, especially to Sheldon, who couldn't stand changes in routine._

_ "Meemaw, what happened?" Sheldon cried in alarm._

_ "Sorry dear." Sheldon waited for excuses from his grandmother but there were none._

_ "Where's Pop-Pop?" Sheldon asked._

_ "Oh...Moonpie..." His grandmother bit her lip. "He's sick again."_

_ Fear bit Sheldon's insides. "Again? How bad is it?"_

_ "Bad." His grandmother confessed. She never lied to Sheldon. Not once. "He's in bed."_

_ "Can I see him?"_

_ "Janice?" A weak voice called from the back of the house. "Is Sheldon here?"_

_ Sheldon's grandmother sighed. "He's in here Gerald!" She shouted. Then she turned back to Sheldon. "You can go see him."_

_ Sheldon nodded, and solemnly headed to his grandfather's room._

_ Gerald Larson, Mary Cooper's father and Sheldon's grandfather was propped up in bed against multiple pillows. He was pale, thin, sickly, and Sheldon's stomach tightened at the sight of him. But his grandfather was typing something furiously on his computer, so that was reassuring._

_ "Pop-Pop?" Sheldon asked softly._

_ "Sheldon!" Gerald jumped in his bed excitedly, but was instantly overwhelmed by a fit of coughs._

_ "Meemaw said you wanted to see me?" Sheldon said nervously, moving next to his grandfather's bed._

_ "Yes, I did. Come here, boy, I don't have much strength in me." Sheldon sat on the edge of the bed._

_ "Have you gone to the doctor to see what your illness is?" Sheldon asked. "I've made a list of possible diseases, but to be honest, they don't match up with your age or your current symptoms, and I forgot my notes at home."_

_ Sheldon's grandfather studied him and let out a sigh._

_ "Shelley, you may just be too smart for your own good." He murmured._

_ "What are you talking about Pop-Pop?" Sheldon interrupted._

_ "Nothing. I want to tell you a story."_

_ "Pardon?" Sheldon studied his grandfather for a moment, utterly perplexed. "Pop-Pop, you know I do not particularly care for storytime."_

_ "I know, Sheldon, I know." The old man rubbed his forehead for a moment. "But this is a true story, Shelley. And this is the last chance I'll get to tell you it before I have to leave this world."_

_ "Pardon?" Sheldon said again._

_ "Sheldon, I need you to just listen. This is very important. More important then anything else you've ever read, heard about, or seen. All right? Can you listen?"_

_ Sheldon nodded slightly. His grandfather began._

_ "Approximately twenty years ago, your grandmother and I went to visit an old friend of ours, and his two daughters. We stayed with them for about a year. You would've liked the younger daughter. She was so full of curiousity about the scientific world, and so smart, Sheldon, and so sweet. Universities loved her. Everyone called her an angel. Unfortunately, her father favored his elder daughter, and often overlooked the youngest." Gerald took a deep, shaky breath and continued. "One day-they got into a fight. I remember it even now. It was horrible Shelley, absolutely horrible. It was so bad that afterwards the youngest daughter was found dead in their pool. Everyone said she killed herself."_

_ Sheldon shivered as he heard his grandfather's tale. "She commited suicide?" He had learned that term from books._

_ "No she didn't."_

_ "But you said-"_

_ "Her death was a mistake." Sheldon's grandfather took Sheldon's hand shakily. "She's still out there, Shelley. The Angel is still out there, and she's no angel, at least, not anymore."_

_ "You're scaring me." Sheldon whimpered. "Why is this important? Why are you telling me this?"_

_ "Sheldon, the reason I didn't go to the doctor for my illness is because I know there's nothing they can do." Gerald said softly._

_ It was like a weight had come crashing down on him. Sheldon couldn't breathe. He knew exactly what his grandfather was saying._

_ "I'm so sorry Sheldon." He continued. "But you need to remember this-The Angel is still out there. And if you ever see her, you need to destroy her. Hate has turned her evil, and she's smart enough to bring the entire world to her knees. After she died, she managed to drive her father insane."_

_ "But she's dead." Sheldon pointed out nervously._

_ His grandfather gave him a wry smile. "Exactly."_

_ The next day, Gerald was found dead by Janice Larson. He had died in his sleep. The funeral was only one day afterward. Little Sheldon barely had time to mourn. As he watched the coffin being lowered to the ground, he thought he saw a blond, teenage girl standing next to the pit. He never saw her face, but she waved at him._

_ Then she was gone._

_ Sheldon wanted to forget everything. His grandfather was wrong, he told himself. Science could solve anything. Ghosts weren't real. Neither was an evil angel. It was all in comic books. That was a fact. Part of him knew he should forget it all._

_ Too bad Sheldon had an eidetic memory._

Sheldon immediately shrugged off her arm as soon as Penny was gone. The ghost girl looked annoyed but didn't protest.

His mind was furiously trying to comprehend what was taking place. First the ghost was stalking him, and now she was sitting on a couch wanting to have a pleasant conversation with him. The fact that ghosts even existed was enough to scramble Sheldon's mind, but now there was dead person sitting next to him. At least she wasn't in his spot.

"What's your name?" That was the first question that came out of Sheldon's mouth.

"I already said, Moonpie. My name's Lacey." Sheldon felt a twinge of contempt at the sarcasm (but to be honest, he was surprised he had noticed it). He tried to think of what to ask. He definately didn't want to upset her, but there were so many questions he wanted to ask.

"Why did you want the locket? Are you really dead? How come Penny saw you? When did you die? How old are you? Am I going crazy? Are-"

Lacey held up her hands. "Okay, okay! Chill. I'll answer your questions. first of all, yes I'm dead. Just saying. And I was nineteen when I died, and that was in 1967. So-"

"1967?!" SHeldon was completely flabbergasted before he noticed that her jeans were bell-bottoms. And the black leather jacket was more of a male fashion in the 60's then female, but perhaps Lacey was a tomboy when she was alive.

"Yes, I think so. Who's president now?"

"Obama."

"When I was alive, it was Lyndon B. Johnson." Lacey said. "The Vietnam War's ended, right?"

Sheldon nodded wordlessly.

"That's what I thought. I just wanted to make sure. You're the first person I've talked to in...a while." Lacey let out a sigh. "Anyway, I died in a...house fire. Just a house fire. I'd be 66 now if I had lived. Damn house fire." Lacey emphasized this by snapping her fingers in dissapointment.

"You're lying." It was automatic. Sheldon had no idea why.

"What?" Lacey's eyes narrowed at him.

"You didn't die in a fire. Wouldn't you be all burnt up now?"

Lacey glared at him. "Fine." She snapped. "I drowned. Got it?"

Drowned. A cold feeling wrapped around Sheldon's skull and he automatically shivered. Drowned.

"The Angel is still around..."

It can't be her. That story couldn't be true. It was all a coinsedence.

"Have I missed anything?" Lacey's voice was cold.

Sheldon shut down that theory immediately. His grandfather had been declared mentally ill, which had caused a simple fever to kill him. He hadn't known what he was talking about.

"Why do you want the locket?" Sheldon asked for the second time.

"It's my link to the mortal plane." Lacey replied.

"I don't understand."

"See how I'm solid? That's the locket's doing. If I take it off, I become my true form, which is the one you originally saw. I need it if I'm going to stay on Earth. If I don't have it, I can travel to other worlds, but I would eventually end up in heaven or hell. Whichever my soul is damned to spend eternity in." Lacey explained. "And I want to stay on Earth. So I need my locket. And Penny could see me because I'm solid. If I take the locket off, I can only show myself to whom I chose."

"You can choose to stay on Earth when you die?" Sheldon asked, already thinking about continuing his work in science.

"Sort of. I'm a bit of a rebel." Lacey smirked.

Sheldon glanced at the glittering gold on Lacey's neck. "Is the locket yours?"

"Yes."

The pieces clicked together. "You're Proffesor Rothman's daughter."

Lacey laughed. It was a cold and chilling laugh, and the hairs on the back of Sheldon's neck stood up.

"That old coot?" Lacey sneered. "Oh please. I'm not his daughter. Not anymore. To be honest, I don't think my old man is even remotely sane anymore."

"He's your father!" Sheldon protested. "It's a non-optional social convention-"

"Save it Moonpie." Lacey snapped. "Non-optional social convention. Please. Don't pull that one on me Moonpie. You should talk."

Sheldon felt like he had been hit in the gut, hard.

_"You little dickhead..."_

"Shut up." Sheldon lashed out angrily. He didn't normally speak out of anger, but he hated when anyone brought up his father.

"You should have seen what Rothamn did to me." Lacey stood up. Her braid was starting to unravel itself. "He got me killed!"

"How? You said you drowned!" Sheldon countered.

Lacey literally hissed in rage and towered over Sheldon. The physicist winced, and drew back. Then, just like that, she relaxed, turned around, and headed to the door. Grasping the doorknob, she stopped and turned around, facing him.

"I'll be back, Moonpie." Lacey snarled. "And you better hope that you don't make me mad again. I know a lot more about you then you do about me."

Then she was gone.

Again.

Sheldon stared at the slammed door for a moment, then got up and went to his desk. He whipped out a post-it note and scribbled a quick message-

**_Penny,_**  
**_ Went to visit a friend. Took the bus._**  
**_ -Sheldon_**

He stuck it on the couch, grabbed his coat, (and bus pants) and left the apartment.

A/N-I would have updated sooner, but I was out staying in a friend's cabin for a few days and I couldn't bring my laptop. Anyway, now you finally know the name of the ghost girl. I wasn't sure what Sheldon's granparents' names are, so I just said the first ones that popped to mind. This story was actually inspired by another, very popular, widely known story. Try to guess it. As usual, review, follow, do whatever you need to do, and a big thank-you to whoever already did.


	5. I Wrote You a Speech

Chapter 5

Lacey fumed.

She had lost her temper. Again. She angrily kicked a trash can in the middle of an alley because she was so angry.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid..._

Why had she even cared if Sheldon knew Rothman was her father? It's not liked she cared about him anyway. It's not like she had ever loved him.

_They used to call me an angel. Everyone thought I was a saint when I was alive. Maybe I was, but I was weak. I couldn't even stand up to my jackass of a fiance when my life depended on it. Everyone thought I had commited suicide._

"Oh poor little Lacey. Her father will never recognize her true talent. We should all pity her because she's so sweet and smart. We should all show up at her funeral and cover her grave with flowers wrapped in lace to remember the poor little girl by. It was a shame that her father caused her to drown herself. We should all treat her like a damn victim!" Lacey ranted aloud.

Everyone had thought she was weak. That she was a pretty little angel who couldn't bear her father's nasty words. And putting lace on her grave-how cliche was that?

Lacey was so sick of being thought of as a martyr she wanted to scream.

So she did.

A homeless man stuck his head from the trashcans in irritation.

"Seriously lady, scream about your problems somewhere else. Some people are trying to sleep.

Lacey ignored him. All she could think about was how her family treated her like a freak and how everyone else treated her like someone who needed to be pitied on and admired like a prized showdog. Just because she could talk like an adult at age 1, read at age 2, and could do math meant for a college student by the time she was in fourth grade.

Yet her father insisted that Lillian, Lacey's older sister, was smarter. He paid more money for her to be educated then he ever did for Lacey. He had Lillian move up a level, and had made sure she stayed there. But when Lacey's kindergarten teacher had called him excitedly saying that Lacey should be placed in sixth grade, he had said that all children had to stay in thier own grade level and had hung up on her. When Lacey had decided to move up to high school when she was ten on her own, her father had angrily scolded her, and then left to show Lillian off at one of his science conventions, claiming Lillian had the IQ of 190, which was Lacey's actual IQ.

Lillian was embarrased every time. She tried to make it up with Lacey, but Lacey had just shrugged her sister off, ran away and cried. Kids had started to tease her at school, for being a know-it-all and show-off. They told Lacey that she belonged in college, not encouragingly, while Lacey's teachers also told her she belonged in college, more encouragingly, and pitied her because her father 'wouldn't recognize her talents.'

The pity was what Lacey hated the most.

_Pity is useless,_ she always thought after her teacher had talked to her regarding her moving up several levels. _Pity won't solve anything. I don't need it. You all act like I'm sitting on my ass begging for it. Well guess what? Stop whining over me. I don't want it. I want to be appreciated by my father. I want to be acknowledged by him._

The need for acknowledgement from her father faded away when she was finally allowed to attend college early. She was recieved so well by the universities that it became irritating. She didn't care for acknowledgement anymore, not even from her father.

That's when she met John.

John reminded her of Sheldon, Lacey thought suddenly, at least up until the night of her death. Until that night, Lacey had loved him.

Maybe that's why she felt as if she needed Sheldon to like her. She had been watching him ever since he had moved into her father's office, and had learned a great deal about him, that his father was probably worse then hers, for one. So when he had found her locket, which she had secretly stored under his desk for safekeeping (she had needed to be see-through in order to spy on him) Lacey had decided to make her move. She was surprised how easily he had given it up. Lacey had honestly expected that she would have to drive him mad in order to get it. He's read comic books, didn't he know it was stupid to give strange lockets to ghostly, evil-looking strangers?

Perhaps that was the difference between him and John, John had been much more bolder. But since she hadn't damaged Sheldon, she could maybe get to talk to him more. Lacey wanted to avoid his friends though, especially the blonde. She knew that if she ever crossed paths with her again, it could end badly, that she and the waitress would end up in, as paople say nowadays, a catfight. To be completely honest, Lacey didn't want to meet any of his other friends.

"Hey lady, aren't you gonna get outta my alley?" The homeless man called again.

Lacey gritted her teeth, and faced the man with a smile.

"Sorry!" She chirped. "But I have to admit, you're quite handsome, darling. Maybe I don't want to leave."

The man blinked, perplexed. He studied her and smirked.

"Say," He said. "You look pretty damn good." The homeless man got up and faced Lacey, thier noses a barely millimeter apart. "And you look even better up close."

His breath was foul and it breathed onto Lacey's face. She almost drew back in disgust, but changed her mind.

"You too darling," She replied sarcastically, and caught him in a tight headlock.

The homeless man gave one last yelp before Lacey snapped his neck. He went quiet immediately.

Lacet dropped his body, dusting off her hands. The man's eyes stared blankly up at her.

She knelt next to him and blew a kiss at his face innocently. "Do me a favor, and close your mouth darling."

Sheldon waited in the Pasadena Mental Institution waiting room for almost an hour before they finally let him in. When they did, he silently praised the Lord, because he was starting to get skittish by the possible germs flying around.

"Right this way sir." The nurse said calmly, and led Sheldon down the hallway. They passed door after door in an seemingly endless hallway.

The doors became more and more foreboding, and soon they appeared to have barred windows on them. Screams and laughter echoed in the walls and Sheldon shivered. It was the most foreboding place he had ever been in, with a more haunted feeling then when Lacey first appeared in front of him. All his instincts screamed at him to run far away and hide under a blanket. Sheldon welcomed the idea. Maybe then Lacey would leave him alone.

Finally, the nurse stopped at a pine door with a silver lock. She pulled a key ring out of her pocket and inserted the proper key into the lock.

"I'll need to speak alone with him." Sheldon told her.

She pursed her lips. "All right. He's not much of a threat, but I'll be right outside this door if you need me."

The door swung open and Sheldon froze. His legs somehow carried him into Rothman's room, but his brain was completely in shock for a reason that was beyond him.

The room was all white. The walls, the ceiling, the bedsheets, even the floor was a rocky white tile that clattered against Sheldon's shoes every time he took a step. Rothman himself was sitting on his bed, in a white nightgown. It could've been a hospital gown, but Sheldon wasn't sure.

The lanky physicist sat next to Proffesor Rothman on the pristine white bed. Before he could utter a word, Rothman spoke up.

"You're the lad who got my office." Rothman said briskly, almost airily.

Sheldon nodded. "Yes sir, my name is Sheldon Cooper, pHD among other things that I don't even bother listing anymore-"

Rothman suddenly gripped his arm tightly and whirled himself around to face Sheldon. Sheldon let out a small yelp, which Rothman quickly stifled by covering his hand over Sheldon's mouth.

"Quiet! They can hear you!" Rothman scolded. "Have you found my daughter?"

Sheldon froze, then nodded, wordlessly, Rothman's wrinkled hand over his mouth.

"She has no idea I can sense her thoughts." Rothman said urgently. "She hates me, but she's my daughter, and I know...I know..." Rothman trailed off, eyes beginning to glaze over.

Sheldon pulled away from Rothman's hand ever so slightly and asked "You know what, exactly?"

"Something will happen." Rothman murmured. "Something terrible will happen very soon. And no one can stop it."

"What will happen?" Sheldon whispered excitedly.

"Murder."

Sheldon swallowed slightly and shrunk away from Rothman even more.

"Murder." Rothman said again.

"I heard you." Sheldon massaged his temples.

"A mass murder." Rothman repeated.

"All right then." Sheldon had no idea whether to listen to the senile man or not.

Rothman studied his face for a moment then let out a howl.

"Lacey..." He moaned. "My sweet Lacey, why did you have to die? My little angel...my little girl...Lacey...I just wanted you to be my girl forever..." Rothman started to sob. He turned toward Sheldon. his face a mixture of rage and grief. Sheldon began to run to the door, but Rothman caught him by the shirt collar amd shook him.

"Save her!" Rothman begged. "Save my Lacey!"

"She's dead!" Sheldon gasped. "She's dead, there's nothing I can do!"

"Redeem her soul..." Rothman dropped Sheldon suddenly and collapsed back onto the bed. Sheldon scrambled to his feet and dashed as fast as he could out of Rothman's room.

Sheldon went back to work two days later, without any sign of Lacey.

Part of him was dissapointed, because the day he finally came back, President Seibert had announced the big Worldwide Physics Convention in just a few days. And he selected Barry Kripke to represent Caltech.

Naturally, Sheldon was upset. He even forgot Lacey, and his frightening visit with Proffesor Rothman at the asylum.

"Sheldon, it's probably because Seibert needs your mind here doing research instead of speaking at the Convention." Leonard offered meekly.

"Yeah." Howard said sarcastically, which got him an elbow from Raj.

That convinced Sheldon for a while, until he learned that all physicists would have to attend the Convention, but only Kripke would present his research. Sheldon had begged Seibert to let him speak at the Convention, but Seibert ignored him.

The day before the Physics department had to leave for the Convention Sheldon sat in his/Rothman's office sulking. He thought about all the famous physicists that would be coming worldwide to that Convention, where Kripke would present his research to a million brilliant and famous minds and not him. Sheldon felt like he was extremely close to throwing a tantrum.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." Sheldon said grumpily.

Seibert came in. "Hello Dr. Cooper."

"Greetings." Sheldon glared at Seibert peevishly.

"I wanted to tell you that there has been an issue involving the speeches at the Worldwide Physics Convention."

Sheldon almost fell in his seat in excitement. "Really? What happened?"

"Dr. Kripke has come down with a severe case of bronchitis, and will not be able to give a speech or attend the convention," Seibert said stiffly. "So I am selecting you to give a speech representing your work and the physics department at Caltech."

A thrill shot through Sheldon and he felt like jumping up and down. Again, he almost lost his balance in his swivel chair.

"Oh, thank you!" Sheldon exclaimed. "I shall begin writing it right now!"

"All right then. Lord help us."

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Dr. Cooper, nothing." Seibert left the office, a grim look on his face.

Sheldon rummaged around his desk and pulled out a blank sheet of paper. He pulled out a pencil, and tried to think of a speech.

Minutes passed. Then an hour. And Sheldon was still staring at a blank paper.

It had just occured to him that Seibert probably hadn't picked him because he hadn't made any progress in his research. None at all. Sheldon hadn't even written any papers in over a month now.

Sheldon grit his teeth in frustration.

"Need a little help?"

This time, Sheldon did fall out of his chair. When he sat up, Lacey was sitting on his desk. Her hair was out of it's braid, with soft curls dangling down her back, and she had traded her leather jacket and bell bottoms for a flowing, silver dress, though the toes of her red converse were easy to see.

"You're back." Sheldon whispered in shock.

"Course." Lacey plopped a stack of papers down in front of him. "And I wrote you a speech."

Sheldon picked up the papers cautiously and skimmed them.

"But-I haven't even done research on these topics yet." Sheldon protested. "I don't think anyone in Caltech has."

"So?" Lacey flipped her legs over the desk top and crossed them in front of Sheldon's face. "It'll make you sound impressive."

"I do not believe that..."

"C'mon, Moonpie." Lacey coaxed. "This is your chance to totally crush your worst enemy!"

"Actually, Leslie Winkle is my worst enemy, and she transferred to Massachussetts."

"Yes, but Kripke's been getting on your nerves, right?" Lacey asked simply. "You can totally upstage him! Competition is part of physics right? Of course it is! Physics was my field back when I was alive! And this," Lacey pointed at the stack of papers in Sheldon's hands. "Is all my research I never got to publish. I letting you have it for free."

Sheldon studied the girl on his desk for a moment. Last time he had seen her, all three times he had seen her, she had terrified him and threatened him, and stalked him. Speaking of stalking, how did she know he needed a speech? And why would she write it for him?

"Trust me Moonpie," Lacey continued. "When Kripke's outta the game, you take your turn."

That's when it hit Sheldon.

"Did you have something to do with Kripke getting sick?" Sheldon demanded.

Lacey waved her hand. "Oh please, it's not even bronchitis. All I did was 'help' him catch a little cough and hid cough drops in his sandwich to make his throat red. Kripke's surprisingly paranoid. He immediately coughed, and thought 'bronchitis!' Not my fault."

Sheldon stared at her with grudging respect. "But why?" He asked.

Lacey shrugged. "I've grown fond of you Moonpie. And I want you to suceed. You certainly have the intellect."

"I know."

"Besides, I don't really like Kripke. Seibert made the wrong choice when he chose him to represent Caltech."

Sheldon puffed out in pride, but his conscience eventually broke through. "I still do not think this is right."

Lacey gave him an incredulous look. "Sheldon, have you ever played chess?"

He nodded.

"When your oppenent has to step out for a while, that's when you make the final blow. That's when you step up, set a trap, and when he comes back, he'll fall right into it. And then you win the game. In your case, your oppnent's out for the count, and that's an easy oppurtunity to get him good and win the game, or at least set a trap when he does come back in. So if you wanna win this game, you're the one who's gonna have to make the kill. The question is, will you do it?"

Sheldon thought for a moment. "Isn't that unfair?"

"Oh no." Lacey reassured him. "It's simply taking advantage of your opponent's ignorance."

Ignorance. The thought of using that word to describe Kripke was an idea that Sheldon liked. _I do want to make the killing blow,_ Sheldon realized. _I want to take Kripke down, especially if that means that I'll be able to rise up. And Kripke doesn't know that I have a ghost, who I think is on my side. I think._

"I'll memorize the speech." Sheldon answered.

"Good," Lacey grinned. "With my help, you can become the next Einstein."

A/N-Okay, so I made a mistake in the first chapter. The whole beginning with the gang hanging by their necks was actually three months after Sheldon met Lacey, why I put 'three WEEKS prior' I have no idea, so I want to apologize for that. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The next one should be up soon, and I'll change the first chapter so it says 'three months later.'


	6. So You Wrote Me a Letter

Chapter 6

After Sheldon's speech ended, there was a standing ovation. Amy and the rest of his friends sat there, completely and utterly shocked.

When Seibert had decided to replace Kripke with Sheldon, Amy knew immediately it would be a disaster. Sheldon was terrible at speeches, and couldn't be likable around people to save his life. His number of findings for the M-theory had reached an all-time zero. The physics department had buried their heads in shame when Sheldon took the microphone and Penny had brought out an Instyle magazine.

But Penny never opened the Instyle. Sheldon had started his speech with a few jokes that were actually funny, and presented his research. Amy hadn't even known that he was researching what he presented. And the way he actually presented it-he even kept Penny's attention!

It was mind-blowing. Kripke was fuming, Sheldon collegues were shocked, and Sheldon's friends were utterly flabbergasted. A professor from England was talking excitedly with a pleased President Seibert, and two proffesors from France were eagerly writing down notes. When Sheldon got down from the stage, his friends stood up to greet him before a horde of Spanish-speaking physicists surrounded Sheldon, asking him questions.

Though in the middle of answering, Amy could have sworn that Sheldon had looked up into the crowd and nodded at someone. Then he went back to talking in Spanish.

Amy followed his gaze to a young woman with loose-flowing carmel hair in a black silk dress. She returned Sheldon's nod, and when Amy tried to get a closer look at her, she was gone.

Finally, Sheldon's friends were actually able to get to Sheldon, and when they got to him, they had no idea what to say.

"Sheldon-that was-wow!" Leonard exclaimed. "How on earth did you figure out that-"

"Seriously man, did you write your own speech?" Howard said incredulously. "The idea that aspects in astrophysics are linked to-"

"If any of you start talking your nerd-talk. I'm gonna scream." Penny said firmly.

"That was brilliant Sheldon." Bernadette said, obviously impressed.

"Sheldon." Amy interuppted the praise. "You talked about topics that none of us knew you were even investigating, not even me! Since when did you solve the M-theory? Why didn't we hear about it?"

"I wanted it to be a surprise," Sheldon replied.

Amy studied him. Not one slight eyebrow twitch.

"Dr. Cooper!" An extremely happy President Seibert walked up and clapped Sheldon gleefully on the back. Sheldon winced under human contact, but Seibert kept talking. "That was all brilliant! Universities around the world are requesting you transfer from Caltech to their own! Did you write your own speech?"

Sheldon gave a slight nod. Again, no eyebrow twitch.

"Well, Dr. Cooper, I can't believe I'm saying this, but you impressed me greatly! Well done! I hope I get to see more of your brilliant research later on! Excuse me..." Seibert excused himself, and went to talk to more physicists.

"Well buddy, when we get back to Pasadena, we're going to celebrate with a trip to comic book store!" Leonard shook his head in disbelief.

"On our normal day, right?" Sheldon asked worriedly. "

"Sure, whenever you want," Leonard confirmed.

Sheldon stared out of his hotel window. Canada, which the Physics Convention was being held this year, was actually quite nice. Maybe Sheldon would return here someday.

He couldn't believe the speech had gone so well. Sheldon had mentioned to Lacey that he had no idea how to lie, but she had shrugged it off and told him not to worry about it. He had almost freaked out when he felt his eyebrow twitch, but none of his friends had said anything. Sheldon wondered briefly if they hadn't seen it, but that would be a stretch. Wouldn't it?

"Nope."

Sheldon didn't even have to turn around to see who had just spoken. He already knew.

"I wish you wouldn't just appear in my room like that." Sheldon told her.

"I'm a ghost Moonpie. What did you expect?" Lacey replied. She walked over and joined him at the window ledge.

"Can I inquire something?" Sheldon asked her. Lacey shrugged nonchalantly. He took that as a yes.

"How is it that you know what I am thinking? Are you telepathic?"

_ "No, but I can develop connections with whomever I choose."_

Sheldon jumped at the voice that whispered in his mind. Lacey laughed.

_"It's all right. You can talk to me this way too."_

_ "Can I?"_ Sheldon experimented. He studied Lacey as he waited for her response.

_"That's what I said didn't I?"_

Sheldon shuddered. He felt as if he was getting used to knowing a ghost, but he always felt that she was surprising him with all the supernatural things she was able to do, things that he didn't even know were possible.

He briefly wondered if he would get the same abilities when he died.

Speaking of which...

_"Have you met anyone else? Anyone else that's...dead?"_

Lacey stiffened. Then she nodded.

_"A few people yes. The ones who choose to hang around in this world instead of going to the old man in the sky. They need a totem to become solid, to be able to interact with the living without effort, but yes, they can remain here if they really want to, or if they have unfinished buisiness to take care of."_

_ "What's a totem?"_

_ "It's like my locket. Remember when I told you that my locket helps me become solid? Every ghost has a totem, normally something they treasured when they were alive. The key is to find it. It took me ten years to get my locket back from my old house. Some spirits never find theirs."_

_ "That's a bit sad."_

_ "It is. But I can't help them, so I focus on myself."_

_ "Why did you choose to stay here?"_

That was the one thing Sheldon probably wanted to know the most. Why would spirits choose to remain on Earth when they could go to Heaven? Maybe they were sentenced to hell or something like that. But Sheldon wanted to know why Lacey had chosen to stay.

Lacey hesitated. Actually, it wasn't much of a hesitation, just more of pause. When she finally answered, it was like she was choosing her words as she was going along, like she had no idea how to answer the question.

"I suppose...because I wanted...to stay here." Lacey replied out loud, while looking up into the night sky. Sheldon watched her face for a moment. The moon didn't cast shadows across her face. Sheldon didn't even know that was possible. But the moonlight did make her glow in an unearthly manner, in a way that reminded Sheldon of a goddess from Greek mythology.

"There are...so many things in the universe Sheldon," Lacey continued. "You have no idea. When I don't have my locket, I can to travel to different galaxies. There are different worlds out there Sheldon. And they're beautiful. I wish I could show you, but you'd have to be without a body..." Lacey trailed off, and Sheldon could tell she was distracted by something.

A knock broke the spell that had seemed to have been cast at the window. Sheldon jumped, and Amy opened the door.

"Sheldon, I wish to speak with you." Amy told him.

Sheldon looked at the spot where Lacey had once stood, but she was gone. Amy walked over next to him and stood in Lacey's previous position.

"As your girlfriend, I believe you should be able to share all important aspects of your life with me," Amy began. "We even made a contract to honor our relationship. As romantic as it is, I believe you need to honor it more. I respect that fact that you wanted to keep it a 'surprise' but I would appreciate that next time you solve something such as the M-theory, you tell me. Have you written a paper on the subject yet?"

"I'm writing it now." Sheldon said. It was the truth. Lacey had insisted that he write a paper to further prove his claims in his speech. He hadn't finshed it yet, but it was in progress.

"Would I be able to read it?"

"Of course, Amy. As well as my girlfriend, you are a member of science."

"I'd appreciate it very much. But what I'm concerned about is that you've never once mentioned any aspect of the topis of your speech tonight. I have spoken with Leonard, and he has confirmed that fact. He has also mentioned that you have been out of sorts lately. May I inquire why?"

Sheldon bit his lip. "I have been sick lately," He said lamely. "But I have made a...discovery that is quite...mindblowing."

"Care to explain?" Amy crossed her arms.

"You may not believe it."

"After tonight, I don't think anything would surprise me."

"In that case, I won't tell you."

"Sheldon," Amy said firmly. "I just told you-"

"Amy, I don't want to scare you. You have no idea the things I've seen in the past week. It's enough to make anyone go mad!" Sheldon explained, thinking of Rothman. "Trust me, you'll find out eventually."

Amy shook her head. "Fine. I'll be here when you want to explain yourself." She turned heel and stomped out of the room.

"Amy please don't-"

"We'll talk later." With that, Amy slammed Sheldon's door.

"You never told me you were in a relationship."

Lacey was back again, and she looked angry for some reason. Sheldon's stomach twisted.

"Yes I am. That was my girlfriend, Amy Farrah-Fowler."

"Get rid of her."

"What?" Sheldon stared at Lacey perplexed.

"You heard me. Break up with her. Leave her at the Lost-and-Found. Hit her with a car. I don't care!" Lacey was fuming, and Sheldon was extremely confused.

"I can't hit her with a car! Besides, I can't drive."

"Then leave her at a Lost-and-Found! Get rid of her! I don't care how!" Lacey snarled.

"No!" Sheldon snapped angrily. "She's my girlfriend, I'm not going to get rid of her!"

"You can dump her!"

"But I don't want to dump her! I care about her! I can't hurt her!"

"Oh yes you can." Lacey stuck her nose into Sheldon's face. "Do it or I will!"

Sheldon's jaw dropped.

"If you hurt Amy, I'll tell everyone about you."

Lacey looked stunned then smirked. "Then you'd have to reveal who wrote your speech."

Sheldon bit his lip. "You can't do this."

"Oh yes I can. Break up with her, or she'll be...how do you say it? Well, let's just say either you break up with her, or Amy Farrah-Fowler will be involved in a rather tragic accident." Lacey sneered. Before Sheldon could respond, Lacey had dissapeared from view.

Nevertheless, he heard a voice in his head again.

_"I'll be watching."_

The next morning, Sheldon and his friends were on a plane nack to Pasadena. Amy was sitting next to him, talking about how boring flights were to her, especially without reading material, which she had completely forgotten to bring for the trip. Penny and Leonard were making out in front of them, and Howard, Raj, and Bernadette were watching 'Legally Blonde' behind them.

Sheldon wondered if he should break up with Amy now or later. This was his first relationship, and was about to be his last, Sheldon realized sadly.

"Amy..." Sheldon began.

"Yes?" Amy looked at Sheldon expectantly, bringing an end to her complaining about long flights.

"I..." Sheldon was annoyed. This is supposed to be for her own good! Why couldn't he do it?

"I...think that if you're bored, you should take a nap." Sheldon felt like smacking himself across the face. Amy stared at him perplexed.

"You're right..." She said slowly. "Why didn't I think of that?" Amy settled back in her seat, and within minutes, she was sleeping.

Sheldon watch her for a moment and looked out the window and at the clouds. He looked at the stationary box that had been left by a previous passenger next to the emergency parachute and got an idea. He took it out, and opened the box.

He found a blank card decorated with cheerful yellow birds and a ballpoint pen. for a minute, he tried to think of what to say. Finally, Sheldon began:

**_ Dear Lacey,_**

**_ I believe that we need to talk about my relationship with Amy Farrah-Fowler_**  
**_ a bit more. You see, I do not want to break up with her, but I do not want you _**  
**_ to hurt her. We are both scientists, so I believe we need to talk more before_**  
**_ we reach a conclusion. You appear to be a rational person, and I honestly do_**  
**_ not want to cross you. _**  
****  
**_ I firmly believe that if we talk through this as mature adults, we can reach a_**  
**_ conclusin to both of our liking. You see, I care deeply about Amy. And while I_**  
**_ normally reject the idea of human feelings, I admit that they can be too strong_**  
**_ to ignore._**

**_ However, if you are dead set on me dumping Amy, I will comply. As mentioned_**  
**_ before, I do not want her to get hurt, and I especially don't want you hurting her._**  
**_ But I wish to discuss this matter furthur to see if your conditions are really that_**  
**_ neccesary._**

**_ I hope we may be able to reach an agreement._**

**_ ~Sheldon L. Cooper._**

As he finished, it occurred to Sheldon that he was attempting to reason with a ghost who had apparantly driven her own father mad, if that was even true. But he had talked to Lacey. She seemed like a normal, teenaged genius. She vaguely reminded him of himself, and he had certainly never demanded someone to break up with their girlfriend, or threatened to kill the said girlfriend if that someone did not comply. But even if he did do that, Sheldon knew he would never actually do it.

So he sealed the letter in an envelope and hoped for the best.

A/N-Sorry it took so long for Amy to show up. I had originally planned for her to appear in the previous chapter, but I wanted it to focus more on Lacey, even though she's been hogging the spotlight for the last chapters. And hopefully, she won't kill Amy. (evil laugh) Reviews please!


	7. John Thompson

Chapter 7

It was all his fault.

Sheldon knew Amy was in danger as soon as he found his letter on his desk. Lacey had replied at the bottom of the card, and her response was horrifying for Sheldon:

**Dear Sheldon,**  
**I understand that you want to do this as a scientist. But this is not**  
**a logical matter, and I cannot accept your terms. As you refuse to**  
**listen to me, I have no choice but to take drastic action.**  
**~Love, Lacey**

Sheldon dropped the envelope and ran to the Biology Research Labs, where Amy worked, as quickly as he could.

When he got to Amy's lab, the paramedics were there.

_No no no no..._

Sheldon was begging one of the paramedics to tell them what had happened, why they were here. They tried to calm him down, and ended up telling him that there had been a gas explosion in the lab that had gone off while 'some lady' was doing research.

"That 'some lady' happens to be my girlfriend!" Sheldon growled angrily. "Where is she?"

"Sheldon?" Amy staggered out of her lab, escorted by two other paramedics.

"Amy!" Sheldon ran over, and almost hugged her, but remembered his germophobia. He settled for gripping her shoulders.

"Are you all right?" Sheldon demanded.

"Sheldon, I'm fine. The gas wasn't toxic, I'm just a little light-headed," Amy murmured while rubbing her forehead.

"We need to take you to the hospital, Ma'am," One of the paramedics told Amy.

"That shall not be neccesary. My boyfriend will escort me home," Amy said calmly. "Sheldon?"

"Of course. I'll call Leonard." Sheldon took out his cell phone, about to call Leonard, when he noticed a text message. When he read it, his blood ran cold:

You have twenty-four hours to get rid of her, or I will.  
Love you,  
~Lacey

Sheldon swallowed.

"Are you okay Sir?" A paramedic asked him. "Is the gas affecting you too?"

"No. I'm fine." Sheldon shook his head.

"You don't look fine." The paramedic studied him closer. "Do you drive?"

"No."

"I'll take you and the lady home in my ambulance."

So he wasn't an official paramedic, Sheldon realized. He was an amubulance driver. He did look a little old to be a paramedic, around the mid-sixties or so, with gray hair and a weathered, handsome face.

"Really?" Amy looked surprised.

"Really. It's my job to help folks. I'd be glad to help you. If, of course, that's okay."

"It's perfect." Amy interuptted Sheldon right as he opened his mouth, about to protest against the cleanliness of riding in an ambulance. "My name is Amy Farrah-Fowler, and this is Sheldon Cooper."

The ambulance driver's face softened. "Cooper, huh?" He said slowly. "Well, pleased to meet you."

"What shall we call you?" Sheldon asked cautiously.

"Just call me...John."

Lacey watched from a window as the ambulance man led Sheldon and Amy to his ambulance, load them in, and start the engine. The driver looked strangely familiar, but for some reason, she couldn't place his face.

As the ambulance pulled away from the Biology Center, Lacey's eyes met Sheldon's for a brief second. His eyes went wide with fear and he looked away.

Normally, this wasn't a big deal. But Lacey had hidden her locket in it's original place, under Sheldon's desk again in order to spy on him and Amy through an apartment window, and she was see-through. Meaning, no one could see her unless she allowed it. And she definately hadn't allowed Sheldon to see her.

She turned away from the window, and ran straight through the tenant of the apartment she was in, and teleported herself back to Sheldon's office. Retrieving her locket from it's usual spot under his desk, she became solid once more.

Quickly, Lacey ran over the possibilities in her mind. Had something went wrong? Had she made a mistake in keeping herself see-through?

Not likely.

Her conclusion was this: Sheldon was the grandson of Gerald Lee, who had been a friend of her father's. Gerald had also tried to solve the 'mystery' of Lacey's death, as he didn't believe she had commited suicide. But he had interfered too much in Lacey's dead life, and he himself had died. Everyone had thought Gerald had been suffering from a mental disease, one that had caused a fever to kill him.

Lacey knew better.

That's why she needed to exact her revenge on John.

_John. John. John._

His name ran through her mind, and Lacey hissed. John the backstabber. John the heartbreaker. John the murderer, who had killed more then one person.

Where was he? Lacey wondered if she would even recognize him. He would be in his late seventies now. Old. Weathered. Handsome.

Like that ambulance driver...

"Shit!" Lacet snapped aloud.

Had John found Sheldon?

Lacey began to panic. If he had found Sheldon, he'd kill him eventually. Lacey didn't want that to happen.

When her thoughts turned back to Sheldon, her heart sank when she remembered the look on Sheldon's face when he had seen her. Horrified. Scared. Sad.

Lacey wasn't guiltless. Her time as a ghost had made her realize she could get what she wanted by scaring people, by frightening the crap out of them. She had gotten used to it, and threatening the living had become a way of life.

But with Sheldon, manipulating him felt wrong. Lacey had no idea, and the thought made her feel weak. Like she was everyone's angel once again. The thought made her shudder in disgust, but it wouldn't help her figure out her feelings for Sheldon.

Was she...

No. Lacey scolded herself. She couldn't be in love. He'd only known her for a month. But she'd known his thoughts, his fears, his secrets, for how long? Oh yes.

Two months.

Not enough time to fall in love, Lacey concluded.

But why did she desperately want Sheldon to dump Amy Farrah-Fowler? Why did she care if John killed him?

She cursed once she remembered John. What the hell was she going to do about him?

Stop, she thought. Your thoughts are running wild. You need control. To think things through. To play the game right.

First things first, she decided. She'd forget about Amy, for now, and focus mainly on John and getting rid of him. The trick was figuring out how John would play.

That was easy. John's primary weapon was trust, and alliances. Hadn't he done it to her? The first thing he'd do is try and gain Sheldon's trust. So Lacey had to regain Sheldon's.

It would be difficult. Sheldon was like a minefield. He was smart enough to figure out when she was playing him, and could somehow see right through her, literally.

So Lacey composed a mental text, and sent it to Sheldon's phone.

_If John hurts Sheldon, I'll torture him to death._

When John dropped Amy and Sheldon at Los Robles, Sheldon knew there was pizza ahead.

Pizza, he thought, sounds excellent.

"This is where you live?" John asked.

"Indeed. Thank you." As he exited the ambulance, Sheldon remembered. "Would you like to join us for pizza? I believe we are having pizza tonight."

"Thanks, but I have to go," John replied.

"I'm sorry, but it's not a choice. It's a non-optional social convention," Sheldon countered.

"Indeed," Amy piped up.

John looked at the two of them and shrugged. "All right," He said. "Pizza sounds great, actually."

"Good. Right this way." Sheldon led John and Amy up the stairs. On the second flight, his phone buzzed. Sheldon pulled it out and read it quickly.

**Sheldon,**  
**You can keep Amy. I've changed my mind. Also,**  
**I see a Nobel coming your way! Stay in the area.**  
**And be careful of John.**  
**~Lacey**

Sheldon read the text over and over a few times, and smiled. So Lacey had a change of heart. Maybe she was changing. Maybe she was realizing threatening Amy would not get them anywhere. Or maybe he was changing her, like what happened in comics books.

When a ghost shows up needing a friend, it's up to a physicist to change her for the , they will change the world and become famous...

"Sheldon, are you all right?" Amy asked him as they finally reached the apartment.

"I'm wonderful." Sheldon smiled at her, and Amy looked slightly taken aback.

"All right," Amy opened the door, and greeted Penny and Leonard, who were already setting up the video games.

Sheldon followed her when he noticed John was studying him. Remembering the last part of Lacey's text, he swallowed. How did she know John?

"Who's this?" Penny nodded at the ambulance driver.

"John Thompson miss." John gave her a nod. "You can call me John."

"John drove us home when there was a gas explosion in my lab," Amy explained.

"A what?!" Leonard looked concerned.

As Amy explained, Sheldon caught John's stare. John gave him a smirk, and the hairs on the back of Sheldon's neck stood up.

"Well, thank god you're all right," Penny said loudly. John smiled at her.

"We'd love to have you, sir. I hope you like video games." Leonard smiled.

Howard, Raj, and Bernadette arrived with the pizza, and the video game competetion began. John excused himself, and left to go to the bathroom.

"Excuse me, I will be right back," Sheldon proclaimed. No one payed any attention.

Sheldon left his spot and followed John's invisible path to the bathroom. When he got there, he noticed the lights were on, but the restroom was vacant.

Just as he turned to leave, someone clamped a hand over Sheldon's mouth and dragged him into the bathroom. Sheldon didn't even hagve a chance to cry out.

He was thrown on the floor, and he hit his forehead, hard. Sheldon groaned, and rubbed his forehead disorientedly. The click of a lock brought him back to his senses, and Sheldon turned around and sat up quickly. John was towering over him.

"I'm sorry," John said. "But we need to talk."

"Pardon?" Sheldon croaked.

"I'm sorry for all this," John repeated. "But as soon as I realized you were Sheldon Cooper, I was instantly alert."

Sheldon sat up. "You..know who I am?" Sheldon said nervously.

"I do Sheldon," John said. "And I believe you're in serious danger."

"What?" Sheldon's heart beat wildly.

_Be careful of John..._

"I don't know what you're talking about," Sheldon told John.

"Are you sure?" John asked.

"Pretty sure."

"Have you seen any ghosts lately?"

The floor beneath Sheldon felt like it had dropped. He felt faint.

"What are you going to do to me?" He managed.

"Nothing at all. But I can't guaruntee she won't do anything to you." John reached into his pocket, pulled out a photo, and handed it to Sheldon.

Sheldon took it gingerly. At first glance, he almost didn't recognize her. But his brain made the connection quick enough.

Lacey's profile was staring out the window. She was wearing the outfit she first appeared to him in. Her face was deep in thought, almost dreamy, and her mouth was set in a content smile.

"That's her," Sheldon whispered without thinking, then snapped his mouth shut.

John nodded. "Sheldon, I'm going to tell you something similar to that your grandfather told you."

"How do you know my grandfather?" Sheldon asked worriedly.

"We used to be friends," John explained. "Until she-" John pointed at the picture. "Was killed."

"What happened to Lacey?" Sheldon asked before he could stop himself.

John shook his head sadly. "Everyone thought she commited suicide. But your grandfather and I knew the truth. Her father killed her."

"What?" Sheldon remembered Proffesor Rothman's weeping face when he had visited him in the asylum. "That's impossible."

"It's true," John sighed. "Lacey and I were in love once. But one night, she and her father got into a fight. I saw it, and so did your grandfather. But-we couldn't stop what happened next. Rothman lost it. He pushed her into their pool. Hard. She hit her head on the bottom, and by the time your grandfather managed to restrain him, and I pulled her outof the water-she was gone."

John choked up, and Shledon thought about how bitter Lacey was towards her father, and how guilty Rothman looked when Sheldon brought her up to him. Sheldon had pinned Rothman's guilt on the fight the father and daughter had, but was it possible Rothman killed his own daughter?

"Rothman was horrified by what he had done," John continued. "He almost killed himself twice. Your grandfather was so upset. But none of us could have predicted LAcey coming back from the dead."

Sheldon shivered. He felt like he was hearing a horror story, except there was no campfire, no smores, not even a comic book.

"Hate turned her evil," John said softly. "She became something she never was when she was alive. She wanted revenge. Not just on her father, but on me, on your grandfather, for allowing her father to kill her. She drove the Proffesor insane, then she came after us."

"What are you saying?" Sheldon whispered.

John took a deep breath and looked at him straight in the eye. "Lacey killed your grandfather."

Later, Sheldon was surprised he hadn't fainted. Or thrown up. Because Sheldon felt sick.

"She hunted us for years before she managed to poison him. I got away unscarred, but Gerald wasn't lucky." John looked upset, as if he hated to talk about this. "Has she done anything to you yet?"

"She helped me with my speech at a Physics Convention," Sheldon said angrily.

What had she said about chess?

_"In your case, your opponents out for the count, and that's an easy oppurtunity to win the game, or at least set a trap when he does come back in. So if you wanna win the game, you're the one who's gonna have to make the kill."_

_In this case, Lacey wasn't gonna be the one to make the kill,_ Sheldon decided angrily. _She's been playing her own game with me, all along. And she's just waiting for me to step out. But I'll be there when she steps out, and I'm the one who's going to kill the Angel. For Pop-Pop._

"She's trying to gain your trust," John said. "She thinks she can play you."

"Well she can't," Sheldon snapped. How couldn't he have seen it before? Ghosts were evil, as anyone who's read comic books know. Why would Lacey be any different?

_As gamers say, game on Lacey_.

A/N-Geez! Summer's over already? Damn, I didn't even get to do half of the stuff I wanted to do! Since school's started, I might not have as much time as I did over the summer to write, so updates may be slower then usual, sorry 'bout that. As usual, review, and I hope to update soon!


	8. Abandonment

Chapter 8

This couldn't be happening.

Lacey watched as Sheldon and John plotted against her, forming plans to destroy her. Watching Sheldon eagerly come up with ideas to send her to hell strangely made Lacey want to cry. The worse thing was he was doing it willigly. Lacey could sense it. John wasn't manipulating him in any way. Sheldon was making his own desicions. and it hurt.

She was starting to regret threatening to kill Amy. Sheldon obviously hated her for it, even though she had apologized via text. Maybe she should have apologized in person. Would that had made a difference? Lacey doubted it.

Lacey could sense Sheldon's thoughts, but she couldn't sense John's. He had figured out a way to block her mental readings, and he was teaching Sheldon. The thought of John even fifty feet away from Sheldon made Lacey want to panic.

Sheldon had no idea what he was doing.

_I have to talk to him_, Lacey thought wildly. _He has to know John's dangerous._

_ I have to earn his trust back before John destroys it completely._

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Sheldon hummed the Star Wars theme under his breath as he finished up his essay on the M-theory. He normally didn't hum, in fact, humming was almost as bad as whistling, but he was in a great mood, perhaps better then when he was accepted into college at age eleven.

Lacey hadn't made an appearance for a week now, which gave Sheldon plenty of time to devise a revenge plan with John. Ever since the ambulance driver had told Sheldon that Lacey had killed his grandfather, the only thing on Sheldon's mind was to send Lacey to hell where she belonged.

For Pop-Pop.

Sheldon stole a glance out of his office window. He still hadn't moved out of Rothman's office, but that didn't really matter. Lacey was staying away. Maybe she was frightened of him. Or John. Sheldon didn't really care. He was just glad she was staying away.

Knock knock.

"Come in," Sheldon called. Leonard entered, and he looked slightly nervous.

"Hey Sheldon, I have to get home. Are you ready to go?"

"What?" Sheldon looked up, alarmed. "But you can't go home! I have to stay late and finish my paper!"

"Sheldon, I have to get home!" Leonard said firmly.

"I can't leave now! My paper's due tommorrow morning, and I can't move all of my research back to the apartment. I need to stay here, but I also need a ride home!"

"Call Amy," Leonard said dissmissively.

"I can't!"

"Well, why not?"

"She and Bernadette are on a girl's night out, and she said that girl's night outs are strictly times when I should not, and cannot call!" Sheldon explained logically. When Leonard shook his head in annoyance, Sheldon continued. "What's so important about getting home tonight?"

"I-I have a date with Penny." Leonard looked down.

Sheldon stared at Leonard annoyedly. "What's so special about that?"

"She-she said she wanted to ask me something." Leonard looked up with a slight blush to his cheeks. "I think she's going to propose."

Sheldon was in shock. The shock turned to anger. His former good mood evaporated, and all that was left was fury.

"And what will happen if she does propose?" Sheldon snapped. "I already know the answer. You'll move out, I'll be alone, and my schedule will be disrupted. That's what! And don't say I can ask Amy to live with me. I brought it up once before, and she told me that she doesn't want us to live together unless we are married. Thank you for abandoning me, Leonard. And yes, that was sarcasm. I thought you were my friend."

Leonard glared at him. "Is that what you're worried about?!" Leonard snapped. "Your stupid schedule? I have a life too, Sheldon, and it doesn't revolve around you. Before I met Penny, it used to, but now that Penny and I are happy and together, Penny's the center of my world. Not you! Why can't you just be happy for me for once! I thought you were my friend."

The words stung deep into Sheldon's heart, and instead of quenching the anger, it only made the flames burn higher.

"Go ahead!" Sheldon shouted angrily. "If Penny's the center of your world, then go ahead. Live with her. Go ahead and leave me behind. Go on your oh-so-special date. I can walk home! I don't care!"

The last three words were a lie, and it was evident in Sheldon's eyebrow twitch. Leonard noticed it, and for a second, he looked guilty. For a split-second, Sheldon hoped that they could just forget they had this arguement, and they could go home and play Mario Cart. Everything would return to normal.

Then the guilty look vanished, and Leonard shook his head angrily.

"Fine," Leonard snapped. "I don't care either."

The door slammed, and Sheldon angrily brushed at his eyes, which were beginning to feel wet. He hated arguements. There was always a hint of tears later in his eyes every time, even though he never let anyone know. The anger always hurt later on.

Sheldon knew that better then anyone.

"I'm sorry. I know what's it's like to fight with a friend."

Sighing, Sheldon wondered if this night was going to get any worse. Lacey was sitting on his desk again. Then time, she was in a silver pantsuit, and her hair was pulled into a tight bun. Her glasses were silver half-moons, and her patent leather high heels were a pitch black.

"Get away from me," Sheldon snapped.

Lacey raised her hands, palms facing him. "I know what John told you about me. He's lying."

"How do you expect me to believe you?! You killed-" Sheldon choked up, thinking of his grandfather.

"Yes, I killed the homeless man. And the guy at the supermarket. But-"

"You killed my Pop-Pop!" Sheldon shouted, and turned his head away sharply, away from the monster that was sitting on his desk. The murderer who shouldn't even exist on this world.

The silence was thick, and Lacey cut through it after a pause.

"Sheldon," Lacey whispered. Sheldon could feel her standing right behind him now, and he shuddered. "Sheldon I didn't kill Gerald. John did."

"You expect me to believe you?" Sheldon snapped, whirling around so fast he made her jump.

"I'm telling the truth!" Lacey snapped angrily, then quickly took a deep breath to recompose herself. "I'd never-" She managed. "I would never hurt Gerald. He-he was mmy only friend. John-" Lacey swallowed. "John made him think that I was a monster. Gerald was scared-of me. I-" Lacey shuddered.

"I don't care how much you cared about him!" Sheldon snarled. He loomed over Lacey. "He's dead! He was the only one besides Meemaw who ever believed that I-"

Sheldon stopped in mid-sentence. He hated to feel emotional. He hated to show emotion. He hated to remember that no one never cared about what he did, or why. He hated, most of all, t show any time of emotion, any time.

_"Father, come on!" Sheldon whined._

_ "Hahaha!" George Cooper barked in laughter as Wyle E. Coyote fell off a cliff. "That goddamn roadrunner!" He howled._

_ "Father, I have a science fair! You promised you would take me!" Sheldon begged._

_ "Leave me alone, you little dickhead." George lazily brushed a hand at Sheldon._

_ "Father, please!" Sheldon pleaded._

_ George sighed, and shot a glare at his youngest son._

_ "Why do ya even wanna go to the goddamn science fair?" He snapped. "Anyone knows you won't win."_

_ With that, he went back to laughing at Roadrunner's smug antics, while something cracked and fizzled inside of six-year-old Sheldon. He had spent so many long hours working on his project that he was certain he would win. His teacher had told him just that._

_ "Why won't I win?" Sheldon asked hotly._

_ "Cause," George slurred. " I helped Georgie make a top-notch project. It's a work of art, son. A pretty rainbow volcano. Your gen-o-rator won't stand a chance."_

_ Sheldon studied his father before he realized he actually meant what he was saying. Then, he nodded without a word, and left the living room._

_ The next day, Sheldon's genorator won a blue ribbon. Mary Cooper had praised her son, and so had Janice Larson, Sheldon's Meemaw. But George Senior had smacked Sheldon later, drunkenly accusing him of cheating. George Junior had laughed his head off._

_ Missy stared at Sheldon disdainfully as he nursed his swollen cheek. "Ya know," She said. "No one gives a damn about science Shelley."_

"Get out of my office." Sheldon whispered.

Lacey shook her head frantically. "Sheldon, you don't understand. John wants to kill you-"

"GET OUT!" Sheldon roared.

. Pop-Pop had abandoned him. His father had abandoned him.

Lacey stared at him in surprise. "What the hell is wrong with you?" She snapped. "I'm trying to warn you!"

"And I'm telling you to get out!" Sheldon retorted. "Now!"

"What can I do to win back your trust!" Lacey flat-out said.

Sheldon glared at her for a moment.

Leonard was about to abandon him. All because of Penny.

"Break up Leonard and Penny! I don't care!" Sheldon shoved Lacey out the door and slammed it.

He slid to the floor, silently shaking.

Then he realized what he had just said.

Crap.

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Penny let loose a giggle as Leonard's lips pressed against hers. He ran his hands through her hair, and she kissed him back.

When they broke apart Penny felt inside her pocket. The ring was still there. Good.

Leonard smiled at her as the water from the fountain cast reflections across her face, making her look even more beautiful, like some kind of water goddess. He wondered if Penny was really going to pop the question to him. And what would happen...

Remembering the fight with Sheldon, Leonard sighed. He didn't feel bad that Sheldon was an arrogant jerk, but he did feel a little bad about leaving Sheldon at Caltech. He sighed, and decided that once the date was over, he would go over and pick Sheldon up. That was the right thing to do, but Leonard wouldn't be happy to do it.

"Hey sweetie, I might have to go back to Caltech to pick up Sheldon." Leonard tried not to look guilty. "He had to stay late."

Penny shrugged. "That's fine. But," She reached into her pocket. "I have something to ask you."

"What?" Leonard asked excitedly. This could be it.

"Leonard..." Penny stood up. "Would you-"

"Leonard?"

Penny paused, and looked annoyed. Leonard followed her gaze, and saw a pretty girl with caramel hair in a silver pantsuit standing behind them, frowning.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Um-what are you doing?" Penny studied her wearily. "My boyfriend and I were in the middle of something, so if you'd leave, we'd appreciate it."

The girl's face morphed from confusion to rage. "YOUR boyfriend?" She hissed. "Leonard's MY boyfriend!"

Penny looked shocked. "No way!" She snapped. "You're insane!"

"Leonard!" The girl shot Leonard a glare so fierce that he almost withered. "You CHEATED on me? How could you? I thought-" Then the girl choked on her words, then burst into tears. "I-I thought-" She sobbed even harder.

Leonard was so confused he felt like his head was going to explode. Watching the girl's performance, Penny's face turned from disbelief to fury.

"Leonard, did you really cheat on me?" She demanded.

"No I didn't!" Leonard shook his head violently. "She's lying! I've never seen her before in my life!"

"Oh r-r-really?" The girl glared at him through her tears, and reached into her purse. She pulled out a wallet and displayed a picture. It was taken from a photobooth, and it showed her and Leonard smiling and making funny faces for the camera.

When Penny saw the pictures, her jaw dropped. She whipped around to glare at Leonard.

"Were those taken at the mall?" She demanded. "Is that the same photobooth WE went to a couple days ago?"

"Penny, I swear to God, I've never seen this girl before in my life!" Leonard gasped.

Penny studied the girl for a minute and she gasped.

"Hey! You're Lacey! Sheldon's friend!"

The girl nodded, and started to sob again. "Y-y-yeah. Sheldon introduced us, a-a-and we hooked up over coffee. We slept together and everything." She reached into her purse again and pulled out a pair of men's underwear with 'Leonard Hofstader' written on the waistband. "H-h-he left these at my apartment."

Penny's eyes widened in shock and hurt and for a second, she looked like she was five years old. Then she whirled around to face Leonard.

"How could you?!" She shrieked.

"Penny, I swear-"

"I loved you!" Penny sobbed. "I loved you, and you told me you loved me. Why would you-" Penny started to cry.

Leonard reached for her arm. "She's lying! I've never-"

"Oh really?" Penny snapped. "She has photos Leonard! And your goddamn underwear! Well, guess what?" Penny snatched the underwear from Lacey and threw them at Leonard's face. "Take your undies back, you goddamn sonofabitch!" With that, Penny stormed away, weeping.

"Penny!" Leonard tried to go after her, but she just shoved him away, got in her car, slammed the door, and took off.

Leonard picked himself up and turned back to where Lacey was standing.

More like had been standing.

The girl was gone, and all that was left was the photos of her and Leonard picked them up and studied them.

With a start, he realized that Lacey's images from each photo were fading.

And as Lacey's features faded, Penny's replaced them. When the process was finished, all of the images of Lacey had vanished, and Penny was there instead.

Leonard frowned, and rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing anything.

What the hell was going on?

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Sheldon woke to the sound of yelling voices coming from outside his door. Rubbing his eyes, Sheldon sat up. He had fallen asleep face-down on his desk, and he was strangely exhausted. His cell phone was on the left of where his face once was. He had tried to call John when Lacey appeared to him, but John hadn't answered his phone for some reason.

The voices got louder, and Sheldon recognized them as his friends'. Perplexed, he got up out of his chair and left his office, entering the halls of Caltech.

Leonard, Howard, Raj, Amy, and even Bernadette were standing around yelling at eachother. But to be exact, Raj was standing in the corner, looking nervous.

"You cheating selfish bastard!" Bernadette shrieked.

"Bernie, calm down," Howard tried.

"Don't stand up for him!" Bernadette snarled with a surprising ferocity. "The girl he cheated on Penny with had pictures! And his undies!"

"You, sir, qualify as an ass," Amy said cooly to Leonard. "Penny has taken a day off from work and is now crying in her room."

"I just said, Lacey was lying!" Leonard yelled. "The pictures she had weren't even pictures of me and her! They were pictures of me and Penny! They faded back to Penny and I when she left! She replaced the pictures of Penny with pictures of her!"

"You expect us to believe that that poor girl magically changed your pictures?" Bernadette yelled.

"I swear to God I'm telling to truth!" Leonard yelled.

Sheldon stared at them. "What's going on?" He asked.

All eyes turned to him. Leonard ran to him and grabbed Sheldon by the shoulders.

"Do you know a Lacey?" Leonard demanded. "Penny said you know the girl who pretended that I went out with her."

Sheldon stared at him, before comprehension hit him.

"She didn't pretend to go out with you! Stop lying!" Amy yelled at Leonard.

"Exactly!" Bernadette shouted.

Realization dawned on Sheldon quickly, and he wrenched out of Leonard's grasp and into his office. He slammed and locked the door.

"What the hell-"

"He doesn't like yelling guys! Sheldon, we're sorry, come out!"

"He's guilty! Leonard did cheat!"

"Bernie, he didn't cheat!"

Sheldon heard more loud bickering, Raj's barely audible squeaks, Amy yelling at Leonard, Leonard yelling at Bernadette and Amy, Bernadette yelling at Leonard, Howard yelling at Bernadette, then, to Sheldon's shock, Bernadette threatening a divorce for defending a jackass, and Sheldon crawled under his desk.

He curled into a ball, massive guilt churning up inside him. Lacey had done her job well. Too well. And it was all Sheldon's fault. Only one thought was coursing through his brain, over and over.

_What have I done?_

A/N-I'm gonna make a poll. Who's side should Sheldon take? Are you Team John or Team Lacey? The poll will stay up until the story is over, so you can change your opinion if you want. Vote and review! (V&R?) 


	9. Who's a Vulcan Now?

Chapter 9

_"He thrusts his fists against the posts _  
_ and still insists he sees the ghosts."_  
-Stephen King, 'It'

Knock knock knock.

"Penny."

Knock knock knock.

"Penny."

Knock knock knock.

"Penny."

For a second, Sheldon didn't think that she would open the door. Then, her door silenty creaked open, and a very disheveled Penny was standing in front of him, holding a bottle of tequila.

"Hey, Shelley-bean," Penny cooed. "What'cha doing?"

Sheldon stared at the tear stains running down her face and shook his head.

"Penny, I need to talk to you. Now."

"Oh sure!" Penny slurred. "Wanna drink?" She held up the bottle, and for a brief moment, Sheldon actually considered it. Thinking it over, he shook his head.

"No." Sheldon said firmly. "But I would like to talk to you."

"Okay..." Sheldon came into Penny's apartment, taking note of the empty bottles lying all over the place.

"Just sit anywhere." Penny staggered as she followed Sheldon into her apartment. "And I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at that sonofabitch Leonard..." Penny giggled like she had said something funny, then burst into tears.

Sheldon awkwardly watched her, growing nervous. He intended to explain everything to her, maybe get her to apologize to Leonard, and get them back together, but she was probably too drunk to make sense of anything that was coming out of her own mouth, much less Sheldon's.

He looked around the weeping Penny, and his eyes landed on a notepad. An idea sparked in his brain and he went to get it.

"Penny, may I use your notepad?" Sheldon asked.

No reply, just more sobbing. Sheldon sighed, and took it as a yes. He took the notepad and a random pen lying around, and sat down on Penny's sofa.

After about a half an hour, eighteen sheets of paper, and twenty minutes of Penny sobbing into his shoulder, Sheldon had gotten his entire story and apology onto the little sheets of notepad paper. He placed it on the coffee table, and turned to look at Penny. She had passed out onto her couch, snoring, clutching something in her hand.

Curiousity overtook him, and Sheldon opened her palm just enough to see a little velvet box. The type that lovers keep their rings in before engagement.

Sheldon immediately knew what it was, and horrible guilt crashed down on him. But the guilt wasn't the only thing that hit him. In a split second, Sheldon's Vulcan side flew south, and that was left was a desperate little boy with a father that liked to hit him around for a hobby. The one who liked trains, legos, and Star Trek. The one who represented Sheldon's inner core.

That side of him hadn't broken loose since...since...Sheldon couldn't remember, but he sensed it as soon as it happened.

Despite the fact that the marriage of Leonard and Penny would change his lifestyle drastically, deep down, Sheldon didn't really want them to be broken up. It was the same feeling he had felt when he and Leonard had first met, and he had figured out that Leonard was about to go down an elevator with a tub of compounds that were about to explode. It was the same feelinng he had gotten when he had purposely not reported Leonard, Raj, and Howard to the building manager when they had blown up the elevator. It was the same feeling he had gotten when he had driven Penny to the hospital when she had dislocated her shoulder.

Compassion.

Leonard and Penny were his friends, the best he'd ever had, the only good friends he'd ever had. And now he had ruined Leonard and Penny's relationship. If they didn't hate him when they figured out he had set a phycho ghost on them, it would be a miracle. And Raj and Howard-they would side with them. Maybe Amy and Bernadette would too.

Amy.

Sheldon wanted to throw up.

He left Penny's apartment, feeling heartsick.

Will I always be alone? Sheldon thought. Will my decisions always hurt others? Will my desicions always ruin everything for me?

"_Mother, I'm going to college."_

_ Mary Cooper looked up from her vegetables startled. Missy and Georgie looked up too._

_ "What?" George Jr. asked._

_ "I'm going to college," Sheldon repeated. "I was accepted at the University."_

_ Mary stared at him and shook her head firmly. "You're not going."_

_ Sheldon shook his head. "I have to. There's no backing out of it."_

_ "You're a child!" Mary snapped. _

_ "Mother!"_

_ "You're not a physicist. You're not just a prodigy. You're my baby boy. And you're staying with me!" Mary sounded frantic._

_ "Mother, it's my desicion!" Sheldon cried. "I'm not like you! I don't believe in your Bible mumbo-jumbo. I'm a genius! And I want to be like one, and go to college._

_ Mary looked even more upset at this when his father came staggering in._

_ "What's all the racket!" He howled._

_ "I'm going to college, father," Sheldon said firmly. "I was accepted at-"_

_ "Oh no you're not." George growled. "You're staying here. You're a kid, and you're gonna be treated like one."_

_ "Father-"_

_ George cut him off by smacking his son in the face._

_ "YOU DO WHAT I SAY, GODDAMMIT!" He roared. "YOU'RE NOTHIN' BUT A SMART-ASS LITTLE DICKHEAD KID, AND THAT'S ALL YOU'RE GONNA BE TREATED AS FOR THE REST OF YOUR GODDAMN LIFE!"_

_ Sheldon didn't say a word. When his father went away grumbling, Sheldon looked at his mother pleadingly. Understanding flashed through her eyes, and Mary turned away with tears in her eyes._

_ Missy stood up and ran to her twin, hugging him. Surprisingly, Sheldon didn't resist._

_ "Don't leave us!" She begged. "You're the only one-"_

_ "That keeps him from hitting you, by him hitting me?" Sheldon pushed her away. "Missy, I need-I need to get away from him. I can't take it anymore."_

_ "Go ahead then." Georgie stood up, and shoved Sheldon to the floor. Sheldon hit the ground hard, and Missy gasped._

_ "Leave us, smart-ass." Georgie growled. "That's one thing dad'll ever be right about."_

_ Sheldon almost believed it._

_ He almost believed it for the rest of his life._

Sheldon reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He had set John on speed-dial ever since he had met him, but lately, John hadn't been picking up.

This time he did.

"Hello?" John muttered gruffly.

"John!" Sheldon said quietly to him, as not to disturb Leonard in the apartment across the hall. "I need you."

"Sheldon?" He could tell by his voice that John immediately perked up. "What is it?"

"Lace-The angel has gone too far this time." Sheldon's hand trembled slightly. "I need to talk to you."

"Meet me at my place," John ordered excitedly. "We can talk there."

"Thank you." John hung up. Sheldon slipped his cell phone back into his pocket and went into his apartment to grab his bus pants.

Nevertheless, his inner Vulcan was back.

* * *

Sheldon knocked on John's door, then looked nervously nehind his shoulder. John didn't live in a very good neighborhood, and Sheldon was beginning to feel jittery.

Knock knock knock.

"John."

Knock knock knock.

"John."

Knock knock knock.

"John."

Again, no answer. Sheldon heard a police siren in the distance, and quitely slipped into John's apartment.

He was immediately impressed. The main room looked like a cross between a laboratory and a living room. Test tubes were scattered on the coffee table, and a beaker was bubbling in the kitchen. A small white board was set up in the hallway, which looked like it led to a bathroom and a bedroom. Sheldon's gaze darted back and forth, until he noticed a wall in the kitchen dedicated to an array of newspaper clippings, old photos, and other little momentos.

Sheldon walked up to it and read some of the newspaper headings.

'Woman spots a ghost,' read one. 'Mysterious freak television accident, two dead,' read another. Most of them were about mysterious murders, accidents, and reports of supernatural activity. Most of them were pretty old, but Sheldon noticed the most recent one first-'Homeless man found strangled in Pasadena alley.'

"Those were all the Angel's work." Sheldon heard John come in, but he didn't turn around.

"How do you know?" Sheldon murmured.

"We were in love once." John gave him a bitter smile. "I know how she thinks. Check out the one on the far right."

Sheldon looked, and with a shock, he noticed the girl on the front page looked exactly like Lacey, maybe a little older.

"That's Lillian," John told him. "The Angel's older sister."

Sheldon read the headline-'I Saw My Dead Sister!.' The date was 1977.

"That was when Lacey managed to find her locket," John said. "She stole it from Lillian ten years after she died. It took her a while to find her totem, but Lacey's Lacey. She's capable of anything."

"I've realized that." Sheldon studied the article again. "What happened to her? Lillian?"

"Oh, she's fine." John shrugged. "Got married, lives with her daughter after her husband died in '89. Look at that one."

Sheldon followed John's finger, and read the headline, 'Girl Sees the Ghost of Mother's Sister.'

"Interesting," Was all Sheldon said.

"I have no idea what the Angel was doing with her niece," John said. "But I'm just glad the girl isn't dead yet."

Sheldon shuddered at the thought.

"Anyway, you said you had something to tell me?" John raised an eyebrow.

"Yes," Sheldon studied John's sofa. "As soon as I find the appropriate place to sit."

* * *

Lacey needed a lawyer, however unpleasant they were.

First of all, Sheldon had asked her to break the blond and his best friend up. Why was he so mad about it? Did he want her to apologize? She had done what he asked her to do because she wanted his trust back in order to save him from her murderer.

Soon to be his murderer.

She needed to talk to him again, but she had no idea what she would say. One thing was for sure, she wouldn't let him just push her out like last time, even though Lacey understood father problems and wanting some space. Especially letting go of anger.

Lacey had thought that since Sheldon was vastly different then other males who had courted her, he would be easier to talk to. But if anything, he was more difficult to talk to. Part of it was his lack of understanding signs, body language, and meanings. But it was also because he had his own opinions, and in his mind, they came first. Perhaps it was because of how he was raised at home, an alchoholic father didn't always give you a chance to express yourself, or because he had been bullied and misunderstood from day one. It was hard to tell.

Either way, Lacey was determined to talk to him again, and set things right. All he had to do was ask her to put Penny and Leonard back together again, and she would do it, without hesitation. It wouldn't be hard, they were easy to play. Sheldon was stubborn, but so was she. He had his own ways of playing the game, but she was a rare opponent. She was patient. She didn't miss a thing. She would never stand up and abandon the board for a short time.

Come to think of it, neither would John. He knew how her mind worked, and because of that, he refused to leave the game, not even for a bathroom break. If you leave the board before your opponent takes their turn, you could miss something.

Lacey had learned that the hard way.

She didn't exactly want to play a game with Sheldon, but she had no choice. John had found him before she could make the checkmate. At the moment, the trick was to get rid of John before he hurt Sheldon.

The problem was-if she could have gone after John before, she would have. He was smart, he had already picked out his totem before death took him over, and if she killed him now, it would make the game even trickier because they would be equal. He would become both the king and the queen, the most powerful piece on the chess board.

Lacey liked to compare things to chess. She was one king, John was the other. She used to be his queen until he had sacrificed her, but she came back as his opponent after he had lost the previous game that had ended with her murder. She saw the dilemma between her and John as a chessgame, but for a while, they had been stuck in the middle of butting heads. Until Sheldon and his world had entered the game.

It went back to Sheldon again. He could be the pawn or the player, the king or the knight. He hadn't yet lost the game, but he hadn't refused to be a piece yet. In fact, the only move he had made was to be a pawn in John's game and that wasn't a right desicion, but he hadn't lost yet. If he was a pawn, he was a pawn, but he would be a valuable pawn. He was Gerald Larson's grandson. That made the game even harder, as both of the kings, John and Lacey, grappled for control of him.

Sheldon's role in the game was puzzling, and until Lacey figured it out, she was just going to work on saving him from being a pawn for John. That couldn't end well at all.

It's almost like I care for him.

The thought came back to her again out of nowhere, and Lacey sighed.

_Fine. I give up on this one. I do care for him. But if I don't do something quick, he'll be dead._

_ Or worse._

There were worse things then death.

* * *

Sheldon settled on the couch cushion that was closest to the radiatior, but just in the way of a draft. John didn't have a TV, so he didn't have to worry about that, thankfully.

John settled in the couch cushion on the opposite side of him, and Sheldon began his story.

Thanks to his eidetic memory, Sheldon remembered every little detail. Halfway through, he felt his face flush with hot shame, and when he finished, the heavy guilt was back, and this time, it was crushing him.

He felt a hand on his shoulder and jumped. John was looking at him, sympathy in his eyes.

"It's not your fault," He said simply. "You were upset, and you didn't think it through. The only one to blame is the Angel."

Sheldon nodded.

John sighed, and got up. He went over to his wall of articles, and pulled something off the wall. He walked back over to the couch, and handed it to Sheldon.

It was a black and white photograph, appearing to have been taken at a party of some sort. Sheldon recognized the younger version of John in an old-fashioned tuxedo immediately, but when his eyes landed on the laughing girl the John in the photograph was hugging, he almost didn't recognize her. But when he saw the locket on the girl's neck, his jaw dropped.

Lacey. She looked as she did as a ghost, but there was something so alive, so happy, that Sheldon wasn't surprised he hadn't recognized her.

"We were happy once," John whispered, tracing the edges of the photograph with his thumb. "I couldn't believe it when she commited her first murder, your grandfather. Unlike her, he didn't have a totem, and she took advantage of that..."

John trailed off for a moment before continuing. "She broke my heart. And her father's. Something in her changed when she died. Her death was my fault-but-" John let out a small, choked sob. "She won't let it go. I'm so worried for her, but terrified at the same time. Her father was driven mad, because he thought it was his fault the Angel died. but it wasn't. It was mine. She just refused to tell him that."

Sheldon only halfway heard him. He was too busy studying the picture. Lacey looked, well, beautiful. The picture had caught her in mid-laugh, and she looked happy in John's arms. You never would have thought she would come back as a vengeful ghost if the picture was your first impression of her. She looked too alive. The only hint that she was the person, or ghost, that she was now was the gleam of fierce intelligence in her eyes.

This is what she was before she died, Sheldon thought. She was...enchanting. Gorgeous. Like a goddess. Sheldon's mind flashed back to on the night he had given his speech at the Physics Convention, when she had visited him in his hotel room. Lacey in the moonlight. Lacey's faraway look in her eyes when she had explained the wonders of the universe. Lacey practically glowing when she explained her research to him.

Lacey threatening to kill Amy.

How could a person change that way?

Sheldon felt torn. The physicist in him was frustrated. The emotional, more reserved part of him remembered.

_ "Mother?"_

_ Mary turned back to her son. "Yes Shelley?"_

_ "Why aren't you planning to leave father?"_

_ Mary tensed. The subject had been broughten up at storytime, and Sheldon wouldn't let it go, and when Mary was about to leave, Sheldon had dropped the bomb._

_ "Because," Mary said tersely. "I believe somewhere inside of him he's still a good man."_

_ Sheldon studied her, looking perplexed. "But he's hit you."_

_ "I know." Mary sighed. "But Shelley, the Good Lord will always make sure that there's good in everyone. Your father is no exception."_

_ She kissed her son goodnight, and ruffled her sleeping daughter's hair, and left._

_ Sheldon rolled her eyes. So his mother was staying because of her misguided belief?_

_ How typical._

Maybe Lacey was a female version of Spock. Maybe she was struggling with her human side as much as Spock struggled with his. Maybe deep inside her, she had some emotion, and that had changed when John had accidently killed her. Like something had snapped.

Sheldon wasn't used to comparing anyone to Spock but himself. Comparing Lacey to Spock made Sheldon wonder if she was just like him...

The thought hit him in the gut so hard that Sheldon almost doubled over.

_ She was just like me._

If he died, and came back as a ghost, would he end up like her? But Lacey was murdered. Sheldon hoped he wouldn't be murdered, but the way events were unfolding, who knew? Between Lacey, John, and even Penny and Leonard, once they found out it was his fault they had broken up, who knew what would happen? If he'd be dead before this whole business was over. Or maybe he'd go insane. Like Rothman. That wouldn't surprise him one bit.

Would Lacey really kill him?

_Of course she would. She's killed others. She even killed Pop-Pop, if that part's even true. Why would she hesitate to kill me?_

Somehow, Sheldon couldn't really picture her killing him. Oh, he knew perfectly well how capable she was of murder. But now that he was thinking about it, he had a feeling that if she had the chance, she wouldn't kill him. Not on purpose.

What was it that John had mentioned? A totem? Lacey had mentioned it before. Would Sheldon need a totem? Lacey apparantly needed hers, at least to stay in a solid form, not her ghostly, misty form. Should Sheldon try to find a totem?

"John-" He began to ask, when his phone rang. John looked at him, and Sheldon frowned. He took out his phone and saw Leonard's caller ID. He pressed his finger against the 'answer' button, and held it to his ear.

"Ahoy!" Sheldon declared loudly.

"Sheldon?" Leonard's voice was shaky. "You need to get over to the hospital now."

"Why?" Dread coursed through Sheldon's stomach. "What happened?"

"Amy. She was hit by a car on the way home from work. She's-she's in critical condition."

The floor seemed to collapse under Sheldon's feet, and he felt faint.

_ Lacey threatening to kill Amy..._

"We're all here. Except for Penny. Do you know where she is?"

_Lacey threatening to kill Amy..._

"Sheldon?" Leonard's voice was crackly, almost fearful. "Are you there?"

"I'll be there," Sheldon said dryly. Then he hung up.

John saw the look on Sheldon's face as soon as his hand dropped to his side, phone clattering on the ground. His eyesbrows knitted together in a worried arch.

"Amy..." Sheldon said hollowly. "In the hospital..."

His voice broke off.

_Lacey threatening Amy..._

_ "Get rid of her..."_

"Let's go then." Sheldon felt John grab his shoulder and drag him outside, into John's beat-up Toyota. Sheldon vaguely remembered driving to the hospital, John flashing his ambulance driver's license, and being dragged to the waiting room where his friends, minus Penny, were waiting. Bernadette was sobbing into Howard's shoulder, Raj looked grim in the corner, and Leonard was pacing.

"Sheldon!" Leonard's voice echoed in Sheldon's ears. "John, thank you for bringing him."

"You're welcome. What's Miss Farrah-Fowler's condition?" Sheldon heard John say.

"We haven't been allowed in. We think they're giving her some blood right now, but we have no idea."

There was a grim silence, broken only by Bernadette's cries. Yet somehow, everything seemed too big for Sheldon, too big, too loud, too goddamn big.

He needed to escape.

Running. Sheldon was running. Farther and farther away. He heard shouting voices, and hands trying to grab him, then a deep voice pushing those hands back saying "Leave him be. He needs time."

He had no idea how fast he had ran, but Sheldon found himself collapsing on the sidewalk, hands on his knees, trembling.

_ Why am I acting like this?_ He thought. _Am I going crazy? I must be. Soon I'll be in the room next to Rothman's, bumbling mad in a strait jacket, because no one will believe me when I try to say that there's a ghost coming after me._

Why had he thought she was like him? She was nothing like him! Why had he thought she had a human side to her? She was evil. Pure evil.

"Sheldon, I didn't do it!"

She was there. Standing right behind him. Without thinking, Sheldon whirled around and slapped her in the face.

Lacey doubled back and stared at him in utter shock-and-was that horror? It couldn't be. Monsters like her never felt horror, never felt fear. Because they were fear, they themselves were the ones who made others feel fear.

"YOU BITCH!" Sheldon screamed. "YOU-you..."

"Sheldon!" Lacey screamed. "Think. Why would I hurt her now?! I'm trying to win your trust back, goddammit! Do you hear me?! I'M TRYING TO WIN BACK YOUR TRUST!"

"You're lying!" Sheldon almost slapped her again but stopped for some reason, and he thought he was going to regret later. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME?!"

"SHELDON!"

"YOU DESERVE TO BE BANISHED TO HELL!"

"SHELDON! JOHN'S MANIPULATING YOU! YOU'RE SMART, RIGHT? WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THAT YOU'RE A PAWN! YOU'RE A GODDAMN PAWN, AND YOU'RE NOT EVEN THINKING STRAIGHT! HE'LL DRIVE YOU INSANE!"

"Just like you did to your father?!" Sheldon screamed, and Lacey fell silent. Sheldon felt a sense of triumph.

He had gotten to her.

But he should have known better then to expect she wouldn't dish it right back.

"And what makes you better?" Lacey hissed after a long pause. "Would you have tortured your father if you had the chance? You would have, wouldn't you? You're right, in a way, except I'm not just like you. You're just like me."

"You're wrong," Sheldon snarled.

"Wanna bet?" Lacey pointed to the red mark on her cheek that was beginning to fade already, thanks to her ghostly nature.

Sheldon stared at it until it had faded. The emotions inside him have stopped bubbling and he was suddenly tired, so tired.

"Look Sheldon," Lacey said in a low voice. "You have to-"

"To what?" Sheldon asked tiredly. "To join you, when you're the one with the murder record a thousand miles long?"

Lacey bit her lip.

"Just leave me alone," Sheldon moaned. "Just leave me alone. Please. I don't care anymore."

Lacey studied him for a second. And to Sheldon's immense surprise, she nodded, and walked away.

Sheldon replayed the events that had just occurred in his mind. He clenched his fists so hard that his fingernails dug into his skin and he started to bleed.

He wondered how long it would take for him to go insane.

A/N-Hey guys! Sorry for not updating in a while, school's been a killer lately. Anyway, I hope this chapter wasn't OOC for Sheldon. I just like to go into his more, well, human side because that's really the better side of him. The quote in the beginning of the chapter is from Stephen King's book, 'It' which I also don't own. I just felt like including the quote. Anyway, the poll's up, so remember to vote! And review! Don't forget to review!


	10. Fallen Angel

Chapter 10

Sheldon slept on the front door of the hospital, curled up next to the plastic plant used for decoration. He got a few strange looks as he slept, but he did not pay any heed to any of them.

He just slept.

He was awoken by the nurse shaking his shoulder, a slightly annoyed look on her face.

"Come along sir," She said and pulled him to his feet.

Sheldon rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and as soon as the memories of the night before came back he tripped over his own feet while walking back into the hospital.

_Don't. You've shown weakness more then once lately. You will not break down again, you will not break down, you will not break down..._

_"Would you have tortured your own father if you had the chance? You would have, wouldn't you?"_

Then he got to his friends. Leonard was hunched over, defeated. Bernadette was still crying, Howard's eyes were red and rimmed with bags, and Raj looked exhausted. John had his hands folded, as if he had been praying.

They were all studying him.

_"You're just like me." _

Sheldon opened his mouth to speak, then closed it.

Then he burst into tears.

His sobs made his friends look astonished at first, then gloomy. John was the only one who didn't look surprised. He stood up, and put a hand on Sheldon's shoulder, steering him away into a corner.

"You need to pull yourself together," John hissed into his ear. "This is just what the Angel wants. She wants you to crumble, to give into her will. She's playing innocent now, but that's what she does. She's evil, Sheldon. You need to remember that."

Sheldon took a deep, shaky breath, and wiped away his tears. John was right. He needed to remain strong. Lacey wanted him on her side. That was all. She wanted him as...how did she put it? Her pawn? Yes, she wanted him as her pawn.

John guided him back to his seat and made him sit down. Sheldon stared at his clasped hands as if they held the answer to all of his problems. Maybe they did. That wouldn't surprise him.

The same nurse that had led Sheldon back into the hospital came up to the somber and melacholy group.

"Which one of you is Miss Farrah-Fowler's guardian?" She asked.

"Her parents were out of town visiting relatives, but they're coming back," John said. "I called them myself. Her boyfriend is right here," John nudged Sheldon with his foot, and Sheldon looked up.

"Ah yes, she was asking for him," The nurse stared at Sheldon pointedly. "She is only allowed one visitor for now, but later on, the rest of you may visit her. Come with me, Mr.-"

"Cooper. Dr. Cooper," Sheldon corrected miserably.

"Dr. Cooper. Come with me, please."

Sheldon stood up and followed the nurse away from the waiting room and into the Intensive Care Unit.

Amy was lying in a white hospital bed, her glasses on the table next to her bed. Her face was pale through the bandages, which went down her neck and down her hospital gown. Her hair was strewn across her pillow, and there were multiple IV's in her arms.

Sheldon sat in the chair beside her bed, and took her gauze-wrapped hand. He clutched her fingers with his, and her eyes fluttered open.

"Sheldon?" She asked softly. "Is that you?"

"Would you like some alone-time?" The nurse asked.

Sheldon gave her a look that clearly stated 'of course.' The nurse nodded, and left. Sheldon moved his chair closer to Amy's bed.

"How are you faring Amy?" Sheldon asked softly.

"Considerably well, considering someone pushed me in front of a car." Amy winced.

Sheldon's heart stopped. He felt as if he couldn't breathe.

"Someone-pushed you?"

"Why yes," Amy blinked up at him. Without her glasses, she couldn't see very well. "Didn't anyone catch the one who purposely tried to kill me?"

"No," Sheldon felt another great wave of anger hit him. "They didn't. No one even knew anyone pushed you."

_ Except me._

Why was he suprised?

Amy had just confirmed his theory. John couldn't have pushed Amy. Sheldon was right next to him when Amy had gotten hit. That only left one person with a motive that could have hurt Amy.

Now Amy was angry. "This is an outrage! Someone must catch that criminal!" She tried to wave her arms in indignation, but they were tied down by the IVs.

"I bet they will," Sheldon was almost boiling over. He didn't even bother to try to hide his emotions.

"How do you know?" Amy questioned.

_Because I'll be the one who'll catch them._

* * *

Penny woke up feeling as if her head was splitting in half. Feeling the contents of her stomach rise in her throat, she flew up from her couch and into the bathroom.

She enjoyed alcohol, but she did not enjoy the massive hangover that always followed. As she spent the next half-hour vomiting in her toilet, she knew this hangover was the worst one she had ever had.

When she was finished throwing up, Penny stumbled back into her room, and curled back onto her couch.

I'll just sleep off the hangover, she decided, and let her eyes flutter closed.

"So this is how you solve your problems. You drink away every bottle that's in your pantry. Real classy."

Penny's eyes flashed open and she sat up. Ignoring the pain in her head, she slowly turned around to see Lacey sitting on her couch, right next to her.

"Lacey?" Penny rubbed her bloodshot eyes, shoving away an empty tequila bottle.

"That would be my name, yes." Lacey crossed her legs. She was wearing a leather jacket that Penny estimated to be from the sixties to the early seventies over a long, gray dress with red converse peeking out from underneath the hem.

"How did you get in here?" Penny felt a little wary, because the first time they had met, Lacey had known exactly when Penny's shifts had been, and they hadn't even met yet. And now, Lacey was sitting in Penny's house like she owned the place. It creeped Penny out a little bit, but myabe Lacey had come seeking comfort. Maybe she, like Penny, was still aching over 'he-who-must-not-be-named.' Penny felt sick just thinking of him.

"That doesn't matter now." Lacey fingered something under her jacket. "We need to talk."

"Okay." Penny clutched a heart-shaped pillow to her chest hoping to fight down the nausea.

Lacey noticed and pointed to the bathroom. "Go ahead. I don't mind."

"Thank you." Penny ran to the bathroom, and when she returned, Lacey was still there, flipping through one of her notepads. When she sat down again, Lacey quickly set it down.

"Look, if you want to talk about-" Penny froze for a minute, fighting the tears that threatened to spill from her eyelids. "We can."

Lacey shifted uncomfortably.

"Maybe it's for the best," Penny crossed her legs and sat on them. "Maybe it was never meant to be in the first place. So I think it's-it's better just-to-move on. But-"

"Stop." Lacey clenched her fists. "There's something I need to tell you."

Penny stared at her, waiting. Lacey took a deep breath, and picked up the notepad she had been loking at earlier.

"Love is a delicate thing," Lacey said softly. "I never thought I would interfere in another's love life because I know how it feels. To have your heart stomped on, wrung up, thrown in the gutter."

Penny realized what she was saying. A strange mixture of relief, guilt, disgust, and anger filled her to the brim. When she opened her mouth to yell at that bitch, that little bitch who had caused her heart to be broken, and Leonard's as well, she didn't get to say a word. Lacey hadn't finished.

"But hell, I've done worse things then mess up love lives." Lacey shook her head and fanned her face, an extremely old-fashioned gesture that took Penny by surprise. "I've caused accidents. I've driven people insane. I've-killed people."

Penny's anger evaporated, and all she felt was fear. Lacey had just confessed that she was a...murderer?!

She had to get away from her.

"Why would someone do that after being hurt beyond compare?" Lacey continued, her words stopping Penny in her tracks. "My heart was broken. I was killed. And now my ex is trying to ruin my life. Why would I ruin the lives of others that had nothing to do with me in turn?"

"I don't know," Penny managed.

"Yet I still do it," Lacey stared down at her hands. Penny started to inch her way off the couch, when Lacey's head snapped up.

"You want to run, don't you?" Lacey asked.

Penny froze.

"I ruined your relationship with your boyfriend. I've killed people. I drove my own father insane. I'm a monster." Lacey leaned back againts Penny's couch pillows and laughed suddenly. Penny's blood ran cold.

"So run!" Lacey giggled coldly. "Run like the rest! I'm only trying to get help! Run because I'm a freak! A monster! Go ahead and run, and scream, but I guaruntee no one will help you. That's how it works, Penny. I screamed. I screamed as loud as I could, but they all ignored me. There were people right outside where I was killed. I screamed, I begged for someone to save me from my jackass of a fiance. But you know what? Heroes are only in comic books. Ask Sheldon. He'll tell you! He'll tell you that all humanity is is a bunch of cowards that won't even stand up to save a drowing girl being murdered by the fiance that she loved. And you know what?"

Lacey gripped Penny's shoulders, and the blonde let out a little gasp.

"I'm sick of this game," Lacey said, still grinning a grim, broken little smile. "My fiance will kill you all. Just like he killed me."

That's when Penny saw it. It was on Lacey's neck, glinting in the light. The golden locket that Sheldon had found under his desk in Professor Rothman's old office.

What had Leonard said Sheldon did with it?

Penny's mind flashed back to a month before when Sheldon had been hallucinating, and Leonard was explaining what had happened when he and Sheldon had been driving to work that morning-

_"He kept yelling at the front of the car, saying that there was a ghost on the car. Then he threw the locket he had found out the window, and it just dissapeared. I think it fell on the ground, but I don't know..."_

A ghost.

Penny's gaze slowly moved up from the locket to Lacey's face. She didn't look dead. But her grip on her shoulders was ice-cold.

Penny opened her mouth and screamed.

Lacey immediately saw what was going on in Penny's mind. Quickly, she dropped the notepad and clamped a cold hand over Penny's mouth.

"Shhhh! Shut up!" Lacey hissed.

"Mmmph! MMMPH!" Penny was desperately trying to shreik.

"I'm not here to hurt you!" Lacey shook the blonde by the shoulders. "Calm down!"

Penny held still and froze, eyes wide and terrified.

"I'm going to let go of your mouth now," Lacey hissed. " Will you be quiet?"

Penny nodded. Wordlessly, Lacey moved her hand away from Penny's mouth.

"You're dead!" Penny gasped. "You're a ghost!"

"Yes I'm dead. Get over it." The crazed seriousness that had taken over Lacey was gone, and now she was all bussiness.

"Oh my...shit!" Penny, hangover long forgotten by then, trembled. "Ghosts are real!"

"Yes they are. Look, I need you to focus!"

Penny froze, and stared at her. Lacey took a deep breath.

"I need your help."

Penny felt an automatic twinge of suspicion. Why wouldn't she? This was a ghost after all. She had seen movies. The ghosts were almost always the bad guys, with the exception of Casper.

"Why?" She asked.

"What?"

"Why should I help you?" Penny crossed her arms.

Lacey blinked, then a flash of outrage flickered in her eyes.

"Listen up Blondie," Lacey growled. "Didn't you hear me explain? My jackass of a fiance is going to kill you. All of your friends, and your family for good measure. He especially wants me destroyed, but what he's really after is Sheldon."

Penny stared at her. "Sheldon," She echoed. "The vain, whiny, annoying praying mantis dude, THAT Sheldon?"

"I was close friends with his grandfather," Lacey explained. "My ex and I knew him, and he worked closely with my father. Right now, he's deep to his neck in all this shit, and if I don't get him out, so many horrible things are going to happen."

"Like-what, exactly?" Penny asked, still feeling slightly uncertain.

"Trust me. You wouldn't have the stomach for it," Lacey said grimly. "The point is, this is a chess game between me and my ex fiance. Ever since Sheldon and the rest of you came along, the game's taken a whole new turn, and so far, I'm losing."

"So this is all between you and you ex?" Penny asked.

"Not really. Sheldon's a big part of it as well. In fact, he's the key piece. If I can get him on my side, then there's a good chance he won't die." Lacey replied.

Penny stared at her, trying to comprehend what she was saying.

Sheldon. Dead.

How could this be happening?

She couldn't imagine a world without Sheldon. He annoyed her to death, but nevertheless, he had somehow become a key part in her existence. He had become a key part in all of their existences. Hers, Leonard's, Amy's, Howard's, Raj's, even Bernadette's. He had a mother who loved him, a twin sister, even a sweet grandmother who loved him and he loved back, even with all of his flaws and annoying traits.

Sheldon. Dead.

It couldn't be possible.

But it was. There was a murdering ghost sitting in front of her for proof. And if that wasn't enough, Penny wasn't sure what would have convinced her.

"What do you need me to do?" Penny's voice sounded hollow.

"Spy on John." The answer was automatic. "Try to exploit him for what he is. And whatever you do, don't reveal that you know I'm a ghost to him."

"John?"

"My ex-fiance."

"Oh." Penny didn't know what to say. "Wait, when did you die?"

Lacey sighed. "Why do they all ask that? 1967."

"Oh..." Penny's eyes widened. "Holy shit-he sat next to me on Thai night!"

"He's the one who killed me."

Penny bit her lip nervously.

"Don't let him know that you know the truth about him," Lacey ordered. "Don't act like anything's changed. Pretend that I've never revealed myself to you as a ghost. You know that ghosts don't exist. But you are suspicious of John, and you will exploit him as he is."

"Can I tell Leonard?" Penny immediately brightened at that idea. They could get back together now. All she had to do was explain-

"No." Lacey's voice cut through her daydream.

"Why?" Penny asked angrily.

"The knowledge could put him in danger," Lacey explained. "But if we save Sheldon, the rest assured you two will get together again. If we don't, then you'll both be dead anyway, possibly worse. In the meantime, act like you're still mad at him. Act like you hate him."

Penny felt an ill excitement and nervousness flood through her.

"I don't think I can do it," Penny confessed.

"You're an actress, right?" Lacey pointed out firmly. "You can do this. That's why I went to you for help. Understood?"

Penny felt herself trembling, but she nodded.

"Good." Lacey stood up. "Read this to give you more information." Lacey handed her the notepad.

Penny took it and recognized Sheldon's handwriting. She skimmed through it and saw Lacey's name, and John's, and an apology written at the bottom. This was it. How he had met Lacey, and how she had met him.

"Let me know if you find anything. I'll text you daily," Lacey started to the door.

"Do you need my phone number?" Penny asked before realizing it was a stupid question.

"I already have it." Lacey turned open the doorknob.

"Lacey!"

Lacey turned around, eyebrows raised.

"How old were you?" Penny asked softly.

Lacey's expression morphed into that of sadness. "Eighteen."

Then she was gone. Penny stared at Sheldon's handwriting, at the same phrase over and over again.

**_"Once she appeared to me, I was terrified."_**

A/N-Updates will now be at least once a week or so from now on, perhaps later, because I just failed one of my tests and realized that I need to study more. Christ, school's having me spin around in circles lately, after you combine that with newspaper and swim practice. Review please!


	11. Beauty and the Beast

Chapter 11

"Father, I'm going to college."

Professor Rothman almost choked on his water. When he regained his composure, he stared at his young daughter, who stared right back at him. He almost shuddered. Those hazel eyes-Lacey looked so much like her mother it hurt.

Lillian cleared her throat awkwardly and stared at her plate. Rothman knew she would not get into this conversation, at least, not willingly.

"Father, I'm going to college," Lacey repeated, like she wasn't sure if he had heard her.

Rothman stared angrily at his soup. "We have discussed this," He said flatly.

"No. You have." Lacey stood up, and faced him angrily. "You've talked talked about it. You've shared your opinion. Let me share mine."

"It's not open for discussion, young lady. You're not going to college until you're eighteen."

"But-"

"No buts!"

"But it's too late. I was accepted into Harvard."

It was like she had dropped a bomb. Rothman stared at her in shock. Had she really-?

"Did you-apply for a college?" He demanded.

"Yes." She stared at him.

He stared right back at her, more sternly.

"You're not going."

"Father, the University is already buzzing about me. They know that I'm your daughter. And if you don't let me go, a prestigous man named President Malcom will be very dissapointed."

Rothman stared at her in horror. She was defying him. She was openly defying him! Not only that, she was threatening him!

"That's blackmail." His voice was shaky.

"I leave tommorrow morning." Lacey sat down and continued eating, like nothing had happened.

"Tommorrow-that's too soon!"

"It doesn't matter. I'm leaving. And unless you want your chances of a Nobel ruined, I suggest you let me."

"Lacey-"

"Father, I-I-I can't take it anymore! I can do so much with my knowledge, Father! I could discover a cure for lung cancer if I had access to the chemicals at the University!"

"And you can use it on your mother. Oh yes, I forgot! It's too late for your mother. You can't use that cure on her!" Rothman snapped.

Lacey stared at him in shock. "Is that what this is about?" She whispered. "You-you're blaming me for mother's death?"

"I've never blamed you!" Rothman shouted.

"Then why bring up my mother?!" Lacey snapped. "She died eight years ago, Father! I don't even remember her!"

"You should!" Rothman snarled.

Lacey glared at her father, eyes narrowed.

"I'm going to bed early tonight," She snapped. "And I'm leaving tommorow. I'm sick of you talking about Mother whenever we argue. I'm sick of you blaming-"

"I never blamed you!"

"I'm sick of you blaming me for not remembering! I was two when she died! TWO! You don't treat Lillian this way!"

Lillian stiffened.

"Don't drag your sister into this!" Rothman ordered angrily. "She hasn't been as rebellious as you have, young lady!"

"And you know why you don't treat her the way you always treat me?!" Lacey ranted. "You know why Father?! Because she remembers her! You got to cry with Lillian over my mother, and not with me. And that's why you hate me!"

"You have no idea what you're saying," Rothman sneered, but with a slight tremble in his voice.

"It's true though, isn't it!" Lacey didn't even wait for an answer. She whirled around and stormed up to her room.

Rothman didn't even bother going after her. He sighed, and ran a hand through his hair.

"Maybe it's for the best she goes to college," Lillian piped up meekly.

Rothman didn't respond.

Lacey stomped up the stairs and threw open the door to her bedroom. Slamming it shut, she flung herself onto her bedframe and started to cry.

It was so unfair...why did Father move Lillian up a grade level when she couldn't even pass first grade? Why does he keep trying to turn me into my mother? Just because my mother didn't go to college at ten, doesn't mean I can't!

"Knock knock."

Lacey looked up through her tears. Gerald was standing at her door, peering at her with a smile. Lacey flung herself back off her bed and ran to him, wrapping her skinny arms around Gerald and sobbing into his shirt.

"Shhhhhh. It's all right." Gerald's Texas accent was made even more clear in California then in anywhere else, Lacey always thought. She dreaded him having to go back to the Lone Star State, because he was the only friend she'd had in years.

"I just want to go to college," Lacey whimpered. "I want to change the world. I can cure lung cancer, I know I can! I won't be able to use it to save Mother, I know that, but still-I can! Why can't he see that?"

"I know you can," Gerald murmured into her ear. "Little lady, you can to more then cure cancer if you wanted to. And your father can see that, if he wanted to."

"But he doesn't." Lacey detached herself from Gerald and hugged herself. "That's why I have to go."

"You don't have to go. Leaving for college is entirely your choice. The only thing is, you won't be able to see me off to Texas."

"Oh no!" Lacey stared up at him with sadness. "I didn't think of that! Maybe you can stay until I come home, and then you can leave?"

"You want me to stay until you can watch me leave?" Gerald smiled, and Lacey flushed. "I can't stay longer. My program here is done, and besides, I have to get back to Janice."

"Has she given birth yet?" Lacey perked up. "Will I be able to meet your child?"

"I would be upset if you didn't." Gerald ruffed her hair. "And because of that, I'll be coming back soon. Maybe for Christmas?"

Lacey perked up, and nodded. "I'd like that. But promise you'll come back?"

Gerald smiled at her. "I promise. And you'll be a college girl by then."

Lacey winced. "Am I a bad girl, Gerald? I hated manipulating my father, I really did."

"No, you're not a bad girl. You're only ten." Gerald wiped away what tears lingered on Lacey's cheeks. "You just have yet to find your place in the world."

* * *

Sheldon felt like he could breathe again when the nurse came back and reported that Amy's only injuries were a fractured skull, bruised ribs, and minor internal bleeding. She would be decharged in a few days' time.

He was eating in the hospital's cafeteria, scoffing at Howard's slightly perverted comment on sponge baths (thankfully, Bernadette wasn't around, the married couple was fighting enough as it was) when Penny came in.

The awkwardness in the air was so thick that you couldn't cut through it with a chainsaw, much less a knife. For a moment, Penny just stood there for a moment, hovering awkwardly next to an empty chair. Then she sat down quickly, and scooted her chair into the table. Leonard scooted into his seat, lookling like he wanted to dissapear.

Penny remained silent, though Sheldon did catch her glance at John, then, almost nervously averted her eyes away from him.

Howard sat back in his chair and shot her a glare. He was obviously firmly on Leonard's side, no questions about it. So was Raj, but he wasn't exactly staring Penny down as Howard was.

Penny cleared her throat awkwardly. "So how's Amy?" She finally asked.

"She'll be fine. She was moved out of the Intensive Care Unit and will be discharged in three days," John replied.

Penny's hand trembled slightly as she adjusted the bracelets dangling on her wrist. Her eyes met Sheldon's and for a moment, she was staring at him. For a moment, Sheldon could see the fear in her eyes.

Then she looked away.

"That's good," Penny said softly, when out of nowhere, Sheldon's phone rang.

"Excuse me.' Sheldon prayed that penny and Howard wouldn't come to blows while he was gone, and he stood up and left.

He checked the caller ID before touching the 'answer' button on his screen. It was President Seibert. Why was he calling? To offer his condolences about Amy?

"Hello?" Sheldon said.

"Dr. Cooper! I have great news! Maybe it'll lift your spirits after what happened to Miss Farrah-Fowler, eh?"

"Your news being-?" Sheldon wanted him to get on with it. Seibert was clearly excited, and by the tone of his voice, he sounded like he was going to wet his pants.

"Your performance at the Worldwide Physics Convention has attracted the attention of the Nobel commitee. They are extremely impressed with your research. So I called you to tell you that they are considering you for a Nobel prize!"

Sheldon's world most likely stopped at that very moment.

"A Nobel prize?" Sheldon gasped out.

"Indeed! The commitee personally called me and said that they would be sending you a form requesting that you submit a nomination. After that, your nomination will be screened like the others, and who knows? You could actually win!"

To say it was a dream come true would be an understatement. It was everything Sheldon had worked for. His entire life had lead up to this. Everything. And. Now. It. Was. Happening.

"I called to let you know beforehand. I wanted to break the news to you myself."

"Th-thank you, President Seibert," Sheldon stammered.

Seibert rambled on and on for a few minutes about how Sheldon recieving a Nobel would honor the university, honor his colleagues, etcetera, when he finally congratulated Sheldon for the last time before hanging up.

Feeling almost giddy, Sheldon practically skipped back to the cafeteria where he immediately could tell the awkward silence hadn't changed.

"You look happy," Leonard observed dryly.

"I was nominated for a Nobel," Sheldon said happily.

The stunned silence that followed his words instantly eliminated all awkwardness. Penny's jaw dropped and John looked impressed. Howard and Raj exchanged surprised glances, and Leonard looked shell-shocked.

"Seriously?" Leonard asked.

"Yes. It appears the Nobel commitee has finally recognized my work," Sheldon said proudly, before remembering that it was Lacey's work they were recognizing, not his. Strangely, the guilt was instantaneous.

"That's...wow! Sheldon, congratulations!" Leonard said, jaw still agape.

"Thank you," Sheldon muttered, trying to banish the guilt to Tatooine.

"Did Seibert call you and tell you?" John asked.

"Yes, he said he wanted to tell me personally before I got the form," Sheldon told him. For some reason, he wasn't so proud any more.

"Congratulations buddy, as soon as Amy is released from this place, we should celebrate! How's Vegas?" This, naturally, was Wolowitz.

Sheldon shrugged. "The train store's not a bad option either."

"God, Sheldon, it's a freaking Nobel! And since Amy just had a near-death experience, I think it's safe to say that a trip to Vegas is well called for!" Howard said happily. Raj nodded in agreement.

Sheldon couldn't help but notice that Penny was remaining oddly quiet throughout the conversation. As Howard jabbered on and on about the wonders of Vegas in attempt to convince Sheldon, with Raj nodding in agreement, Sheldon tuned Howard out and stared at Penny, trying to meet her eyes.

She didn't. She seemed to be purposely avoiding him.

And Sheldon couldn't help but wonder if she suspected that the research he was about to be credited for wasn't his.

But how would she know?

Then Sheldon remembered the text Lacey had sent him once, even though it seemed so long ago when she had texted him.

_ 'I see a Nobel coming your way!'_

Was this all Lacey's doing? Was Sheldon only winning a Nobel because Lacey wanted him to?

Looking a Penny, who still wouldn't meet his eyes, Sheldon was having a hard time fighting the guilt.

* * *

Lacey needed a break. When she was alive, she enjoyed going to a spa for a back massage. She wouldn't go for the whole facial treatment. Why would she? She was a scientist when she was alive, and scientists had better things to focus on then her beauty.

But ever since she died, well, more accurately, ever since she had regained her totem, she had gained a new type of relaxation.

Visiting her sister's granddaughter.

Lacey had never been one for children, but visiting her eight-year-old great-niece had struck something in her. When she had visited her sister's daughter, her niece, there hadn't been much of a connection. Elizabeth had screamed, and called for her mother. Lacey had tried to explain to her that she meant no harm, that she just wanted to see her niece, but Lillian had come in and it had all gone downhill from there, with her ending up in the tabloids.

Now, Elizabeth had grown up and married, and soon, Lillian was a grandmother. When Robin had been born, Lacey had wanted to see her from the minute she saw her. She refrained from visiting Robin for years, but when the girl turned four, she had seen Lacey by accident.

It had happened when Lacey had left her totem in the child's bedroom in order to follow a lead on John's wherabouts. She had returned when she had thought the child was asleep, and had walked through her bedroom walls in her ghost form, retrieved her locket, and had materialized in her solid form. When she had turned around, there Robin was, sitting up in her bed, eyes wide, and Lacey had known she had seen everything. She was considering knocking her out, when Robin had asked, in a voice that sounded frightened, yet, but slightly intrigued.

_"How did you manage to walk through walls?"_

Lacey, not knowing what to do, answered Robin honestly. What else could she have done? But Robin had excitedly crawled out of bed and stared up at her dead great-aunt in wonder.

_"Would you like to meet Scampers? He's my cat. I think you'd like him. You seem like the type of person who would like cats."_ She had said it like she was making a new friend. Lacey wanted to laugh at the girl's stupidity and trusting personality, when she was dragged off to meet Scampers.

Scampers hadn't liked Lacey much. His fur had spiked up and he had hissed, but that hadn't fazed Robin. After meeting the cat, she made Lacey meet all of her stuffed animals. Lacey eventually insisted that she had to go and Robin had given her a hug, surprising the crap out of her.

_"Promise you'll come back?"_ She had asked, giving her the puppy dog eyes.

Damn those puppy dog eyes. Lacey had promised, not intending to keep that promise, but somehow ended up back with Robin's dolls. That's when she knew she was doomed. Robin had won her heart. She would never in a million years admit it, but Robin became a new reason for her to stay as a ghost on earth. And while she tried to keep Robin strictly a pastime and nothing more, Lacey would always find herself wandering over to Robin's bedroom for teatime with the little girl's stuffed animals. Naturally, Lacey kept everything else that she did when she wasn't with her niece a secret from the girl, because in her heart she knew the truth-if Robin found out her aunt was a murderer, she would run away with fear. And Lacey would fall apart.

But what happened next almost did the same thing. A year ago, Robin was diagnosed with lung cancer.

Lung cancer. The same disease that killed Lacey's mother was now plaguing her one source of happiness as a spirit. The same disease that Lacey had vowed to find a cure for in honor of her mother, but didn't live long enough to. It was the sickest, sickest irony there ever was. And just like when her mother was diagnosed, Lacey was powerless to stop it.

All she could do was sneak into the Children's Ward at Glendora Hospital.

Robin's beautiful hair, her brown hair that was as soft as a wren's feathers was shaved down to her scalp. There were machines and moniters surrounding the girl, who had grown skinny during her time at the hospital. When Lacey walked into her room dressed in a nurse's uniform as not to arouse suspision, she shuddered at the sight of Robin propped up against a few pillows, lying in her hospital bed, with a bony figure and wires sticking out of her arms, coloring in a Disney Princess coloring book.

"Hi Robin!" She said as cheerfully as she could.

Robin looked up from her picture of Belle, and a wide, toothy smile spread across her face. "Aunt Lacey! You came to visit me!" She wheezed a little as she spoke those words. Then her face frowned. "Why haven't you visited me in the hospital before?"

"I'm sorry, but I had...um...ghost stuff to take care of." Lacey walked over and sat on the edge of Robin's bed. "I'll visit you more, I promise."

Robin kept frowning. "It's because I look bad, isn't it?"

"No, no, you look fine," Lacey reassured her.

"I'm bald." Robin crossed her arms and sulked.

"And you still look like a princess." Lacey pointed at Robin's coloring.

"You think?" Robin's face brightened.

"I know. I bet all the other patients are jealous of how lovely you look." Reassurance. One of the many things Lacey had learned from her time as a ghost, from her time with Robin. She herself believed she had gotten pretty good at it.

Robin flushed, a grin wide on her face. "You're really pretty too."

"Thank you Robin." Lacey let the compliment wash over her.

"No, really." Robin thought for a moment. "Did you ever have a boyfriend?"

Lacey's nose wrinkled. Her eyes narrowed at the thought of John.

"No," She said sharply.

"Really? Did you ever want to?"

"No."

"Why not?"

Why did that kid ask so many questions? Lacey took a deep breath. "Because I didn't care. And now that I'm dead, it's not possible for me to be in a commited relationship with anyone."

Robin nodded slowly. "Okay then." She ran a hand over her shaved head. "Y'know, I didn't want to be bald, but my hair was falling out. Mommy decided it would be easier for me just to go bald. She says that all cancer patients do it."

"It's no big deal," Lacey reassured her. "Your hair will grow back as soon as you get better."

Robin bit her lip. She shifted in her chair uncomfortably, like she was keeping a secret.

"What's wrong?" Lacey clasped her hands together and stared intensely at her niece, watching for any signs of dishonesty.

"I..." Robin's lip trembled slightly. "I don't think I'll be getting better." Her breathing quickened, and one of the monitors started to beep.

The words cut deep into Lacey, and she felt like someone had just thrown a shoe at her.

"What do mean?" Lacey snapped, harsher than she meant to.

Robin blanched. "I-I-I don't think I'm going to get better," She whispered. "I heard Mommy and Daddy talking with the doctor, and the doctor said I might not make it." The little girl was full-on wheezing now.

"What do you mean you won't make it?! Of course you'll make it! Don't be ridiculous!" Was the doctor really stupid enough to let an eight-year-old with cancer hear him telling her parents that she might not beat cancer? Of course Robin would make it!

"It's what the doctor said," Robin's hand shook. "I can hardly walk anymore, Aunt Lacey. I'm starting to have trouble breathing. But...at least I can turn into a ghost and be with you." Her breathing calmed down.

"No! You can't be a ghost, Robin!" Lacey said harshly.

"W-why not?" Now the wheezing was coming back.

Lacey hesitated. Dammit, how could she explain this? How could she tell the girl who had no clue what really went on in the world the truth about how it was torturous to live as a spirit-how every day Lacey wished that she would have just gone to the Afterlife where she belonged. She could have been with her mother, could have actually met her. How couls she explain to a girl who might be dying of cancer how hard it was to let go of a whole life when you made yourself visit it every day?

"It's complicated," She said finally.

"But I could be with you! I can see Mommy and Daddy, and Grandma. I can go on ghost adventures with you!"

"Being a ghost isn't like that Robin. It's-" Lacey stopped abruptly. What was she doing, telling Robin what it was like to be a ghost? Robin wasn't going to die! Lacey couldn't ever picture Robin dying, slowly fading away from cancer, and she damn well couldn't picture it now.

"You. Will. Not. Die." Lacey spoke each word as firmly as she could. "I promise."

"Nurse?" Lacey wanted to strangle the man in the doctor's coat who stared at her quizzically. "Miss Robin has to take her medications now. Why haven't you taken care of that yet?"

"I'm visiting," Lacey scowled at him, and turned back to her niece.

"I'll visit you again soon," She promised.

Robin smiled. "I hope you do. Here, this is for you." She tore out the page in her coloring book, and wrote 'To:Aunt Lacey;Love From-Robin S."

Lacey took the picture, and shot Robin a smile. "Thank you. I love it."

"Nurse, either you give her the pills, or leave."

Lacey glared at the doctor. "Give her them yourself!" She snapped. She stood up, and waved a goodbye to Robin, and left.

Robin won't die, she told herself. She won't.

Lacey took another look at the coloring book picture that Robin had given her. The image showed Belle and the Beast doing a waltz, while the candlestick and the clock watched. Robin had colored perfectly inside the lines, but she had made Belle's hair caramel-colored instead of brown, and her dress scarlet instead of yellow.

For a minute, Lacey stared at the picture of Belle's hand clasping the Beast, and for a split second, Sheldon's face crossed her mind.

_Sheldon._

Her break was over. Lacey had work to do. She folded the colored page neatly and put it in her pocket for safekeeping.

A/N-Sorry for not updating sooner! Hope you all understand! Reviews are very much appreciated, and I'm hoping for a lot of 'em!  
Honestly, I had no idea Robin would enter this story, but I realized, judging by the reviews, that people were seeing more of Lacey's bad side then her good side, so I wanted her to have a little bit of good in her, at least. FYI, pretty much most of my OC's end up being evil, or complicated, or have serious issues. Seriously, why can I only write complicated characters? Eh, goody-two-shoes characters are boring anyway. So you won't get any Mary-Sues from me, thank you very much.  
Why am I rambling on about this?  
Anyway, review please!


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